Our major street project this year is Charles Ave/Hill and Minnesota Street Reconstruction project. All utilities are being replaced, including water main, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer. Other items of work included in this project are pavement removal, bituminous surfacing, concrete surfacing, sidewalks, curb and gutter and other minor work.

As of this writing, all underground utilities have been installed, and alley paving has been completed. Local contractor D&G Excavating, Inc is overseeing the project.

The Highway 19/College Drive Reconstruction project continues to progress, despite battling summer rains nearly every week this construction season. Crews have been seeding, installing curb and gutter, putting up erosion control to protect trees, paving, and continuing with watermain installation.

Sections of Highway 19 have been paved and the next phase of utility work near Main Street has begun. Local contractor R&G Construction is the General Contractor for the project.

Recently the Highway 69/59 railroad crossing, located near the Lyon County Government Center, was closed in order to replace the tracks. With some technical glitches occurring in the city of additional railroad crosses during portions of the project construction, that have since been corrected, we anticipate this project to be completed very soon.

Independence Park, built in 1988, is the most visited park in the city. As part of a phased, nearly $1 million redevelopment effort, the city in 2022 invested $600,000 in ADA park trails, lighting, and an inclusive playground. The city also received a $28,622 Outdoor Recreation Grant for the inclusive playground. This year an Outdoor Recreation Grant of $420,547 is replacing an aging picnic shelter and restrooms.

Local contractor Bladholm Construction is completing the work. The new picnic shelter was completed in early July and within the next few weeks, the new restrooms will also be completed.

Many trail projects are slated to be completed over the next several years with the help of $360,381 in Active Transportation (AT) Infrastructure Program grant funds. Based on feedback from users, the trail at County Road 7 will be realigned to match up with the existing trail alongside the current levee.

Construction of approximately 800′ of new 10′ wide concrete trail will make this happen. In addition, installation of Rectangular, Rapid Flashing Beacons (RRFB) will be placed at the new crossing of County Road 7 to improve safety of the trail crossing. An enhanced pedestrian crossing (RRFB) at U.S. Highway 59/A Street, a shared use trail along U.S. Highway 59 between Boyer Drive & Windstar has also begun. Local contractor R&G Construction is overseeing the completion of these projects.

Very soon, the construction of the new 7,500 SF Snow Removal Equipment (SRE) Facility at the Southwest Minnesota Regional Airport will be completed. The SRE Facility will consist of 3 vehicle bays, an administrative area including office space, breakroom, restrooms, a utility area and a mezzanine. This SRE project is a $2.9 million dollar project, with $1.7 million of federal funding from the Airport Infrastructure Grant program and Airport Improvement Program funds. Local contractor Sussner Construction is the general contractor.

In January of this year, the city council approved the advertisement of bids for the redesigned aquatic center project — The Splash. The process attracted 50 bids across 16 bid packages, with 6 local contractors participating, leading to significant cost savings and enabling the full project vision to come to life.

On March 26, the city council took action and unanimously voted to accept the low bids (majority of low bids were local contractors) for the Aquatic Center project, totaling about $14.87 million. The council also voted to approve the total project budget of $19.17 million. The new aquatic facility will be able to accommodate more features, better meet storm water requirements and will be able to accommodate more users.

Thus far building foundations have been built, the lap pool has the flooring constructed and construction of the lazy river has begun. This coming week, we anticipate the rebar and wall forms for pool A to be finished, allowing us to pour the walls late in the week.

The project is anticipated to be open sometime in the summer of 2026.

— Sharon Hanson is the city administrator for the city of Marshall