A study evaluating the need for, and potential routes for a ring road around the northeast side of Hutchinson has been shelved by the McLeod County Board.
“It felt like, to me, the pulse of the board was to not move forward with this project,” Board Vice Chairman Joe Nagel said at the Jan. 3 regular meeting.
The question has been open for years, dating back at least to the construction of a ring road built more than 15 years ago along Vale Avenue and Airport Road to circle Hutchinson from State Highway 7 on the west to State Highway 15 on the south. The potential northeast project was also mentioned in Hutchinson’s 2012 Transportation Plan.
More recently, the city and county collaborated on a feasibility study, which evaluated the traffic moving through Hutchinson, and how it would be impacted by a new route. Said route would go from the north side of Hutchinson on State Highway 15 to the east side of Hutchinson, on State Highway 7, at the intersection with State Highway 22. The study listed eight potential paths for the ring road.
The rationale for such a project has been to divert traffic from passing through Hutchinson, including to and from the east and southeast, and the north.
But the primary impact, according to a study conducted by McLeod County and SRF Consulting Group, would be traffic passing through the city north and south along State Highway 15, including Main Street. Overall, the study found a northeast ring road would potentially redirect 1,800 vehicles each day.
The majority of the potential traffic, 1,270 vehicles, would be from Highway 15, according to the report. Hutchinson’s 2012 Transportation Plan listed 13 of the city’s crash “hot spots.” Twelve are along Highway 15. It also labels Highway 15’s intersection with century avenue as one of the highest crash rate intersections in Minnesota Department of Transportation District 8.
Though Nagel made a motion to accept the county’s report on the ring road project, and that motion was unanimously approved, he said he was not in favor of moving forward with a project based upon it.
“The report itself it well done,” said Board Member Doug Krueger. “Obviously, what we do is a separate subject. ... It was very open to the public to chime in. And obviously we heard some chiming in.”
The county sought public input on the study, first at an online open house in 2021, and then an in-person open house this past October, at which point significant pushback was heard from attendees.
Critics have questioned the need for such a project relative to its high cost during an economically fraught time. Others have expressed concerns with the roadway’s safety, and increased traffic and noise levels near their homes. During community outreach on the project in 2021, feedback indicated property impacts, environmental considerations and costs were more important than infrastructure needs. Following the meeting, McLeod County Public Works Director John Brunkhorst said it was one of the biggest open houses he has seen, and that feedback was overall negative.
A motion by Krueger to shelf the report was unanimously approved.
“I thought it was probably a good idea to do some work on the future around Hutchinson, to carve out some areas. But after the report, and the constituents chiming in, it’s not the time,” Krueger said.
“We’ve got the report. If you need to revisit in the future, you certainly could,” said McLeod County Attorney Ryan Hansch.
One feature of the report was a study of the intersection of State Highway 7 and State Highway 22. That work has been forwarded to MnDOT for consideration.
“We could handle that as a separate project in the future if we wanted to,” Nagel said. “I think there is some validity to looking at that, but not the whole thing.”
