Target Date to Have Sartell’s River Road Complete
Sartell has undergone a fair amount of road construction for the past several months. County Road 1, the River Road, has been a big Sartell and Stearns County project. Sartell Mayor Ryan Fitzthum joined me on WJON. He indicated the plan is to have this segment of County Road 1 complete by November 15th and that includes the bike path, and walking path. This is phase 3 of the project. He says he and the city council have been working with the county to see what they can do to speed the process to get this roadway open as soon as possible. Fitzthum says the dry weather has helped with the construction process. He says they are trying to figure out how they could get County Road 1 open during the morning and evening rush hour time periods.
Fitzthum says when complete this will be a great new corridor for the city of Sartell. He indicates the new biking and walking paths fit well with what the city loves. Fitzthum acknowledges there will be a bit more pain to get through until the the project is done.
The County Road 1 project isn't the only road construction project going in Sartell. The 19th Avenue project has been broken up into 2 phases with the south phase happening now and the northern phase set to happen in the spring of 2023 due to material delays. Fitzthum says curb is going in next week with blacktopping about a week after. He says that project is getting close to wrapping up for the season and it will be great to have that stretch of road open.
Fitzthum says with these projects going on now there has been a significant amount of traffic pressure on Pine Cone Road. He explains in a normal year the Pinecone/7th Street intersection near Pine Meadow Elementary would see about 12,500 cars a day but is now seeing in excess of 20,000 cars a day.
If you'd like to listen to my conversation with Ryan Fitzthum it is available below.