What’s happening on Hwy 246? It’s not what you think

What you need to know about the trail construction by the Northfield High School

You may have thought that construction on Hwy 246/Division St. by the high school was a road-related project. But it’s a trail project.

According to the City of Northfield’s TH 246 East Side Trail project page:

The TH246 East Side Trail Project consists of an off-street trail on the east side of TH246 from the Northfield High School Entrance to the roundabout located at the intersection of Jefferson Parkway and TH246.

The project is considered Phase 1 of the TH 246 Corridor project, which ‘turns back’ Hwy 246 from CSAH 1/CR 81 to Hwy 3 from MnDOT to the City. On that page, see the PDF of the Scoping Study and Corridor Analysis Report for Trunk Highway 246, submitted by consultants in July. The City Council approved a resolution on July 9th to pursue the Corridor project.

Rationale

The City considers the East Side Trail Project an important addition to the existing trail system. It provides a trail connection (via the Jefferson Parkway/Mill Towns Trail/Hwy 246 roundabout) to both Bridgewater Elementary and the Middle School primarily for students living in Northfield's northeast quadrant so that they don’t have to cross the busy segment of Hwy 246/Division by the High School.

Cost

The cost of the project is $753,000. The City of Northfield received $508,000 in Local Partnership Program grant funding from MnDOT to help fund this project. The remaining $245,000 came from the City’s capital reserve fund balance.

Updates

The most recent East Side Trail Project update (8/23/2024) on the City’s Notify Me page:

Concrete crews were onsite this week to form up the footing for the new retaining wall located on the northern end of the project corridor. Concrete crews are expected to be onsite early next week to complete the remaining wall footing. Retaining wall crews will also be onsite early next week to begin placing the retaining wall blocks, and backfilling the new retaining wall area. Just a quick note, the current traffic pattern is scheduled to remain through mid September, the City of Northfield asks all motorists to drive with caution through the area, especially once classes start on September 3, 2024.