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Marshall eyes grant to upgrade truck route

Seeking $1.25 million to resurface Channel Parkway

Photo by Deb Gau Channel Parkway in Marshall sees a lot of heavy truck traffic. It’s part of the reason that Marshall city engineer Jason Anderson said the city is applying for a Local Road Improvement Program grant to help change the parkway from asphalt to concrete.

MARSHALL — The city of Marshall is among the local communities that will be seeking state grant funding for road projects this year.

On Tuesday, members of the Marshall City Council passed a support resolution for a Local Road Improvement Program grant of up to $1.25 million to resurface Channel Parkway with concrete.

“We as the city engineering staff decided to put together an application,” said city engineer Jason Anderson. Changing Channel Parkway from asphalt to concrete was a move that would help cut down on maintenance work for the road surface, he said. “If we can find some opportunities for grants, we think that it’s in our best interests.”

Minnesota’s 2020 bonding bill included $75 million in LRIP that cities and townships could apply for. Earlier this month, the cities of Ghent and Russell made LRIP grant applications to help road projects in their communities. City staff said reconstructing part of McQuestion Street in Ghent and Lyon County Road 15 in Russell would help the roads stand up to heavy truck traffic.

Marshall city engineer Jason Anderson said the city of Marshall was seeking an LRIP grant of $1.25 million to upgrade Channel Parkway from asphalt to concrete. Channel Parkway was built around 2004-2005, and currently sees a lot of traffic from heavy trucks, he said.

“We’ve noticed some stress cracking in the pavement, and we just think with some of the heavy loads that use this route, that it’s best served as a concrete pavement,” Anderson said.

Channel Parkway is currently scheduled to be resurfaced sometime in the next five years. Making the roadway out of concrete would be costly — an estimated $2.43 million — but would require less maintenance, Anderson said.

“I think we would get a nice long life out of it,” he said. State LRIP funding would make the project possible.

If the city is awarded a grant, Anderson said the plan would be to do the construction in 2023, using the grant funding to repay city bonds. Council member Craig Schafer said Channel Parkway is an important route for trucks that want to avoid going through Marshall’s downtown. “This route gets a lot of heavy trucks,” he said.

The city council voted 5-2 in favor of passing a resolution in support of the LRIP grant application. Council members Steven Meister and Russ Labat cast the votes against.

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