MARSHALL — It’s been a long time in the making, but a planned drainage improvement project in the area around Legion Field Road will now be able to move forward on its final phase.

This week, the City Council approved a $1.01 million bid to build a new drainage pipeline crossing under the BNSF Railroad, and a new stormwater retention pond on land near Legion Field Road.

“This falls right in our engineer’s estimated range,” for the cost of the project, said Marshall Public Works Director Jason Anderson.

Last month, the city received three construction bids for the final phase of the drainage project. The apparent low bidder was Towne & Country Excavating of Garvin. Anderson said the engineer’s estimate for the project was about $1.02 million to $1.2 million.

“This project was identified in our capital improvement plan at $1.4 million, so we’re within our project budget,” he said.

In 2024, Marshall was awarded a grant of about $867,000 from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency for the project. Construction costs beyond the grant amount, and engineering expenses, will come from Marshall’s surface water management utility, Anderson said.

The planned work would be the final phase of stormwater improvements that the city has been planning for years in the area around Legion Field Road. City staff said the improvements will help prevent flooding in areas of Kendall Street, Peltier Street, Glenn Street and Simmons Street, as well as property near the Nexus Apartments on Legion Field Road.

The project will include grading about 1,100 feet of a BNSF Railroad ditch in the affected area, building a new stormwater pipe crossing under the railroad, and construction of a new stormwater retention pond on city-owned land north of the Nexus Apartments.

Council members unanimously approved awarding the construction bid.

“It’s been long awaited, and should be a very helpful project moving forward,” said council member Craig Schafer.