An electronic sign on West College Drive in Marshall warned drivers that the road would be closed to through traffic starting May 5. MnDOT plans to reconstruct Highway 19 (College Drive) between Marlene Street and Main Street this year.

MARSHALL — Signs of a busy construction season have appeared in Marshall over the past couple of weeks. The highway signs, orange barrels, utility flags and construction fences along West College Drive all point to the start of work on both Marshall’s new Aquatic Center, and road construction on Minnesota Highway 19.

“I think we’re going to see things ramp up here in the next week or two,” said Larry Filippi of Contegrity Group. Contegrity is the construction manager for the new Marshall Aquatic Center. The new pool facility will be going in on land near the corner of West College Drive and West Saratoga Street.

“We have a pre-construction meeting on Monday,” Filippi said of the project.

At the same time that the Aquatic Center project is starting to ramp up, the start of major reconstruction on Highway 19 (College Drive) is also getting close. Beginning May 5, part of West College Drive will be closed to traffic, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.

A groundbreaking celebration for the Highway 19 project is planned for 10:30 a.m. May 2, near the corner of College Drive and West Saratoga Street.

Aquatic Center prep work underway

There has been a lot of “behind the scenes” work happening on the new Aquatic Center project, including planning and getting permits, Filippi said. Last week, fences were put up around the construction zone, and work crews began clearing trees from the lot.

Filippi said Monday’s pre-construction meeting would be a chance to meet with contractors and go over the requirements of the project. “We have a good core of local contractors,” he said of the project.

Construction will start with ground work on the Aquatic Center site. Work on the pool and buildings would start later this summer, Filippi said.

The goal is for the new Aquatic Center to open in 2026.

The Aquatic Center project will be under construction at the same time that MnDOT is working on West College Drive. “It will obviously add some challenges navigating the (construction) site,” Filippi said. However, the earthwork contractor on the Aquatic Center project, R and G Construction, is also working on the College Drive project. Having contractors who know what’s going on during both projects will be helpful, Filippi said.

Updates on the Aquatic Center project will be posted on the Marshall city website.

Highway 19 work coming soon

MnDOT plans to rebuild part of Highway 19 (College Drive) in Marshall, with the construction divided up over two years. The first half of the project is planned for this year, and will affect West College Drive from a point near Marlene Street, east to the intersection of College Drive and Main Street.

Construction is planned to start May 5. At that point, part of West College Drive will be closed to traffic, and a detour will be in place on Lyon County Road 7 and Minnesota Highway 23.

During a public open house last week, contractors and MnDOT representatives explained that construction on College Drive would be broken up into four stages over the course of this summer. The first part of the project, that starts May 5, will run from just west of Marlene Street to the west side of the bridge near Legion Field. During that time, Fourth Street will still be open to traffic, MnDOT said.

The second construction phase will start at the other end of the construction zone, between West Greeley Street and Main Street. Construction will then continue west along Highway 19 for stages 3 and 4.

Phase 3 of the project will include construction of a roundabout at the three-way intersection near the National Guard Armory.

The new roadway on West College Drive will be concrete, and there will also be new sidewalks and features like pedestrian curb ramps. While construction is going on, the city of Marshall will also be replacing the water and sewer lines underneath the roadway.

MnDOT said construction work is planned to stop in October, before moving on to the second half of the project in 2026.

More information on the Highway 19 reconstruction is available online at https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d8/projects/hwy19marshall/index.html.