MARSHALL — Reconstruction of Minnesota Highway 19 in Marshall will start further west than originally planned, city staff said this week.

On Tuesday, members of the Marshall City Council approved a new project layout that would extend the street and utility construction further west, past Marlene Street.

Marshall Mayor Bob Byrnes said more than $15 million in federal infrastructure funding is helping to make it possible to expand the construction on Highway 19 (College Drive).

“There’s really two drivers behind the extension of this project,” Byrnes said. First, there were city utility lines under the roadway that needed replacing. “It would make the most sense to do that at the same time that all the other utilities are being done.”

The second factor making the additional construction possible was a $15.4 million grant awarded to the project this summer, through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is planning to rebuild part of Highway 19 (College Drive) in Marshall, with construction scheduled to start in 2025. The original project was planned to rebuild College Drive from Fourth Street through the intersection of Bruce Street in Marshall. Marshall Public Works Director Jason Anderson said the city requested that the reconstruction be expanded further west past Fourth Street, for utility replacements.

Under the new project layout, the construction area would start about 700 feet west of Marlene Street, said MnDOT Project Manager Jesse Vlaminck. That would put the start of the construction zone near the access road for Buffalo Ridge Concrete, he said.

“The current construction cost for this total project is $27 million,” Vlaminck said. The city of Marshall would have a $6.7 million cost.

Anderson said the RAISE grant would help support the city’s portion of construction. He said the city also had a $1.1 million grant from MnDOT District 8’s Area Transportation Partnership.

“So we do have a lot of grant support to go along with it. And then obviously our water, wastewater and surface water utilities will bear some burden here as we make improvements,” Anderson said.

Council members voted 6-1 in favor of approving the new layout of the construction project, with council member Steven Meister voting against.