MARSHALL — It was a two-year project to begin with — and on top of that, construction work on Minnesota Highway 91 had some false starts partly due to weather. But although it took a long time, the paving project is now complete, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced Thursday.

The construction project included 45 miles of highway spanning three counties. Highway 91 was resurfaced from Adrian in Nobles County north to Russell in Lyon County. Construction work also included bridge and box culvert replacements, and added lighting at rural intersections.

Work on the project started in 2019, but got a delayed start in Lyon County. Planned detours on Highway 91 south of Russell were bumped back into the summer and fall of 2019.

MnDOT engineers said there were a couple of factors involved, including wet weather and scheduling decisions by contractors. Instead of doing bridge and culvert repairs in one year and paving the next, the project contractor did additional work in 2019.

The Highway 91 project took collaboration between two different MnDOT districts: District 7, which is headquartered in Mankato and serves a large stretch of Minnesota’s southern edge, and District 8, which has offices in Willmar, Marshall and Hutchinson.

Central Specialties, Inc., of Alexandria was the contractor that completed the project. Central Specialties was awarded a bid of about $18.45 million for the construction.