Photo by Mike Lamb Wind turbines can be seen from Highway 19 just outside Ivanhoe.

IVANHOE — Public officials and business people near wind energy project locations expect another busy construction season in the upcoming year.

After an extensive amount of construction taking place in 2019, development agreement work is in progress for 2020 construction plans. Under the agreements, local governments and wind energy companies specify what will be done to guarantee reliable access to wind energy construction sites.

They also spell out expectations for how construction traffic will coexist with other local traffic on highways that intersect with turbine access roads.

“The access roads involve decisions made by the companies and landowners,” said Lincoln County Highway Engineer Joe Wilson. “Development agreements relate to the maintenance of public roads and roadsides next to them. It guarantees that they’ll be properly maintained.”

He said agreements will be in place later this winter, well ahead of the likely start-up times for spring wind turbine construction.

New wind installations have taken shape since 2016 across much of northern and eastern Lincoln County. They’ve focused on locations in eastern foothills of southwestern Minnesota’s Buffalo Ridge.

The ridge has some of the highest geographic points in the state, at approximately 2,000 feet above sea level. They’re almost as high as Eagle Mountain, Minnesota’s highest point in the Lake Superior Upland region near Duluth.

Elevations drop dramatically in a northeast direction, toward locations in northern Lyon County and central Yellow Medicine County which only have elevations of slightly more than 1,000 feet. The topographical change helps to make the ridge area a prime site for average daily wind speed.

Besides new construction, Lincoln County is seeing the first ever replacement of Buffalo Ridge turbines. A group of 73 units, put in place by Kenetech Windpower in 1993, are being replaced with new counterparts that have modern turbine design features,

“Based on the planning work, next year looks like another very active year for construction,” Wilson said. “The development agreement will have the same basic format that’s been used in earlier phases.”

Businesses in the vicinity of wind turbine projects have noticed an extra dimension to daily customer traffic as a result of construction work.

“They’ve sometimes bought a dozen pizzas in one visit,” said Scott Veire of the Veire’s Cenex convenience store in Ivanhoe. “We’re seeing really good repeat business. It’s been consistent throughout the season, and it’s definitely been helpful to our overall sales.”

He added that much of the 2020 wind construction will again take place in areas close to Ivanhoe, which creates good prospects for more daily construction-related activity.

Veire’s is located near the center of Ivanhoe along Minnesota Highway 19. The road begins to have higher elevation near the Lyon-Lincoln county line. It continues west in the Buffalo Ridge area to the South Dakota border near Hendricks.

Ivanhoe is slightly more than 1 mile east of U.S. Highway 75, a main highway that also includes Canby, Lake Benton and Pipestone.

Chelsi Palmer of Irene’s by Julie in Hendricks said wind energy personnel have been finding their way to downtown business districts that aren’t situated on a main highway.

“They’ve been very good customers,” Palmer said. “We notice the biggest difference with the size of our lunch crowd on weekdays. We’re glad to have them. It’s very helpful.”