County Board gets highway update
County engineer gives the commissioners a long list of projects

This photo shows a lot of the damage to the surface of the bridge deck on one of the bridges scheduled for some repair work.
Topics related to road and bridge construction dominated the Faribault County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 3.
While representatives of the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) talked to the county about State projects in the area, county engineer April Wellman came before the County Board to discuss county road and bridge issues.
“The deck of County Bridge 22579 on County Road 12 west of Winnebago has some places where the concrete is missing and there is exposed rebar in one location,” Wellman said. “We have compiled quantities and are requesting quotes from contractors to perform repair work. The bridge will need to be closed to traffic for one to two days during the repair. The timeline of the repair depends on the contractor quotes and their availability.”
Staying on the topic of bridges, Wellman reported that a bridge that spans the Blue Earth River on County Road 5 on 345th Avenue has four bearing pads on the north abutment which need to be replaced.
“There is a MnDOT bridge crew that is available to jack up the beams and replace the bearing pads,” Wellman commented. “They will do the work sometime between November and April. The county will provide the bearing pads and traffic control during the project.”
Wellman reported the bridge west of Kiester on CR 2 is passable but still not paved.
“Crews started the demolition of the bridge on CR 1 on Aug. 26,” Wellman added. “When the new bridge is installed, crews will pave it and the one on CR 2 by Kiester.”
Wellman told the board she still did not know when work would start on the box culverts south of Frost on CR 17.
MnDOT District 7 engineer Greg Ous and certified planner Angie Piltaver came to the board meeting to review both the STIP (years 1-4) and CHIP (years 5-10) projects with the County Board.
According to the MnDOT website, District 7 is made up of 13 counties that are strong in agriculture. Those counties are Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Nobles, Rock, Sibley, Waseca and Watonwan. The District 7 headquarters is in Mankato.
“There are 3,200 lane miles, 475 bridges, 9,700 culverts and 37 roundabouts in the district,” Ous shared with the board. “The population of the district is around 290,000.”
Ous noted that over the next 20 years, MnSHIP, the Minnesota State Highway Investment Plan, is expected to have $31.5 billion to invest in the state highway system.
“That figure does not include money that was earmarked for projects during the 2023 legislative session,” Ous added.
Ous reviewed the overall conditions of state roads in Faribault County and said that Highway 22 south of Kiester is in poor condition. “As for bridges that the state is responsible for in the county, more of the work will deal with maintenance and preservation of the existing bridges than on replacing them.”
Piltaver provided an update on the Interstate 90 construction project.
“Work on I-90 in Faribault County is scheduled to be completed by the middle of October if the weather cooperates,” Piltaver commented. “This has been a $92 million project.”
Two of the upcoming projects in the county are in the cities of Elmore and Wells.
“The Highway 109/22 project in Wells is scheduled for 2026,” Piltaver said. “The Highway 169 project in Elmore is set for 2028.”
Commissioner Greg Young asked what the expected lifespan was for the bridges on I-90.
“We anticipate a 75-year life span,” Ous replied. “Some bridges that were built 50 years ago look like they may last even longer.”
County attorney Cameron Davis was at the meeting to address a question which has been raised by some members of the public about instituting term limits for county commissioners.
Davis stated he believed it would not be proper for the board to establish term limits because that is something that would require a change to the state’s constitution or legislative action.
“My opinion is that instituting term limits would be exceeding the authority of the board according to the State constitution,” Davis concluded.
Action was also taken during the meeting to update the commissioner’s computing devices.
“With the updates in software the county has made, the commissioner’s computing devices are no longer compatible with the software,” county coordinator Brian Hov explained. “This could hamper their ability to receive and review county business materials and communications.”
The board chose a less expensive model tablet made by Samsung which will be sufficient to serve their needs. The cost of the five new tablets, which are being purchased from Midwest IT Systems, is $3,143.
In other business, the board:
•Approved the annual lease with Human Services for the Annex building with an increase in the rent of three percent over the 2024 amount which makes the rent for 2025 $122,910.
• Approved the request of county auditor/treasurer Kari Jacobson to attend an IFS Financial Software training conference
• Approved the request of Emily Bonin of the Sheriff’s Department to attend a training course on fraud.