The legislative team at Flaherty & Hood is celebrating the passage of legislation that the Minnesota Department of Transportation says will finally complete the four-lane expansion of U.S. Highway 14 between the cities of Nicollet and New Ulm. This 12-mile expansion project is the final segment of the more than 100 miles between New Ulm and Rochester to be funded for expansion. It also represents the conclusion of an effort that has taken more than 60 years.
Highway 14 spans all the way across southern Minnesota and connects the regional centers of New Ulm, Mankato, Owatonna and Rochester. The first construction project to expand this stretch of highway began in 1959, but it took more than 60 years to put the pieces in place to complete the entire project. Over the decades that passed, the communities along Highway 14 continued to grow and the highway became one of the most dangerous in the state.
Flaherty & Hood has provided legislative and public relations services to the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership since 1998. In that time, the Partnership has come to be widely recognized as one of the most vocal and most effective transportation corridor coalitions in the entire state, and has helped secure hundreds of millions in state and federal funding to expand the roadway.
By bringing together cities, counties, townships, local chambers of commerce, and individual businesses to unite around a common goal, the U.S. Highway 14 Partnership sets the standard for how a diverse coalition of interests can come together to make an impact at the Capitol.
With questions about this legislation, transportation funding, or other projects around the state, please feel free to be in touch with F&H lobbyist Shane Zahrt at SAZahrt@flaherty-hood.com.
