St. Cloud Approves 5-Year Road Construction Plan

ST. CLOUD (WJON News) -- The St. Cloud City Council approved the 5-year-road construction project which is part of the bigger Capital Improvement Plan.

Public Services Director Tracy Hodel says many of the projects in the 5-year-plan are core neighborhoods with full reconstruction required. She says they are the largest and most expensive projects...

We're doing full reconstructs and we're storm, we're doing wastewater, we're doing water, we're doing the full sidewalks, we're doing curb and gutter, so those end up being really, really costly. And, you can't use regional sales tax for that, right? They're not regional roads, they're residential roads. You can use assessments and that's kind of the purpose of the assessments because those are the people using those roadways and those utilities.

Hodel says some of the core neighborhood projects included in the 5-year plan are Pan Park and the Kilian neighborhood. She says there are other more regional projects in the plan like next year's Lincoln Avenue project...

We are going to have continued east-side construction. I know that's not what people want, but people who are driving Lincoln Avenue I think they realize it is in need of repair and full reconstruction. We have very, very old and poor material, especially from Division south coming to 7th Street here. So, that will be a full reconstruct. We'll actually be adding sidewalks from 4th to 7th.

Another large project would happen in 2026 if the city can secure federal funding. Heatherwood Road in south St. Cloud would be extended to 60th Street South and connect with the I-94 Business Park.