Photo by Deb Gau Marshall City Council members hear more about plans to reconstruct portions of West Lyon Street and Third Street downtown. The city is proposing to rebuild the street and utility lines along Lyon Street between East College Drive and Fifth Street, and on North Third Street between Main Street and West Redwood Street.

MARSHALL — This week, Marshall City Council members heard more about plans to rebuild streets and utilities in part of downtown. The council voted to accept a feasibility report about construction on West Lyon Street and North Third Street, and called for a public hearing on the project Jan. 24.

The reconstruction project will have a total estimated cost of about $3.8 million, said Marshall Public Works Director Jason Anderson.

“This is a reconstruction project of five blocks downtown. It’s West Lyon Street from College Drive to Fifth Street, and Third from Main to Redwood,” Anderson said. “We’ve been working on this project, and doing some scoping and outreach for quite some time now. We spent a lot of meetings and time with the Downtown Business Association as our primary outlet for giving feedback on the project.”

The feasibility report presented to the council gave an overview of the different improvements that would be included in the construction project. City staff are proposing a concrete surface for the streets, as well as concrete reconstruction of the Addison parking lot at the corner of East College Drive and Lyon Street. Utilities including the existing storm sewer, water mains and sanitary sewer would also be replaced.

The proposal also calls for some changes to traffic flow and parking. The streets being reconstructed would have angled parking on one side, and parallel parking on the other.

The block of Third Street between Main and Lyon Street would change from a two-way to a one-way street, with traffic flowing northbound. The traffic lights at the intersection of Main and Third Street would also be changed, to have just a pedestrian signal and not a stoplight for crossing Third Street.

Costs for the project would be assessed according to city guidelines, Anderson said. That means the water and wastewater utilities would cover part of the assessment costs, in addition to property owners.

The feasibility report also gave an anticipated schedule for the construction. The city could award bids in late February, and begin construction in May. Construction is anticipated to end in September.

Council member Craig Schafer said he appreciated the effort that city staff, downtown property owners and businesspeople, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation put into working together on the proposed project. The Lyon and Third Street project was something that would help shape the look of Marshall’s downtown.

“I think the investment that everybody has made in our downtown area is really starting to show, and it’s being appreciated, and I think we just need to continue forward,” Schafer said.

“This is not just a reconstruction of a roadway,” said Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes. The goal was also to have a design that would be inviting to people visiting downtown. “It’s a generational project,” he said.