Becker County Highway Department presents 5-year construction plan during public hearing on Dec. 14

Detroit Lakes, Minn. (KDLM) – The Becker County Highway Department presented their five-year construction plan update to members of the Becker County Board during their recent public hearing last Thursday.

During the Dec. 14 meeting, Jim Olson, county engineer for Becker County, told the commissioners the county receives a fair amount of state aid for road projects, which is collected from the statewide gas tax and now, delivery fees, among others.

“When we look at funding sources, state aid is a big one of ours,” said Olson. “This money is generated through the gas tax, vehicle excise tax and we have some new funds in there too. There are some delivery fees now that are going to that. And, as a result of some of these new fees and dedications toward state aid, that probably one of the bigger reasons you saw a decrease in this year’s budget. We’ll see an increase in those monies. And those monies are split, 60% of those monies from state aid goes towards our roads and 40% of that goes towards our maintenance work. And that 40% generally impacts our levy budget.”

He told the commissioners much of the county highway construction over the next couple of years in going to be in the county’s northern and eastern sections.

In 2024, major road projects are scheduled for:

• County Road 34, east of Richwood, to 295th Street.
• County Road 44, from County Road 46 to the east Becker County line, east of Two Inlets.
• County Road 47, from Highway 34 to County Road 40.
• County Road 42, from County Road 47 to the east Becker County line.

Overall, Becker County has seven highway projects on the books for 2024, totaling nearly $9.3 million. State aid funds will be covering nearly $5 million of the project costs with Becker County responsible for only $3.9 million.

The following year, in 2025, construction will begin on County Road 26, east of County Road 21 and out to the Tamarac National Wildlife Refuge. Additionally, County Road 34 and County Road 35, which are regularly traveled north and southbound routes on the White Earth Reservation, are scheduled for a reclamation and overlay, respectively.

Becker County is scheduled to begin construction on West Lake Drive, from Washington Avenue to Legion Road, in 2026. A portion of County Road 120, located south of Highway 34, is also scheduled for an overlay in 2026.

Olson also admitted, he thinks our roads are in pretty good shape when compared to other counties in the area.

“In my opinion, and I do hear from some people, I think we have really good roads compared to other counties,” he said. “I hear that from people that come and drive through. And the sales tax has helped us a lot. And it’s nice to have that. And we’re also blessed in a good portion of our county to have good soils and stuff like that too. So that does help us. It does give us better prices when we good aggregate sources as well.”

For more information on the Becker County 5-year highway improvement plan, visit the Becker County website and click on the highway department tab.