Miles and miles of lakes country roads in Otter Tail County means costly, needed repairs
Otter Tail County needs $16 million more per year to maintain its roads, officials say, as lawmakers push for more rural funding.
FERGUS FALLS, Minn. — It’s obvious this time of year — it’s road construction season.
In Otter Tail County, that means repairing and rebuilding one of the largest systems of paved county roads in Minnesota.
But that means costly, needed repairs come summertime. And lawmakers and county officials say more dollars are needed for greater Minnesota.
Between Fergus Falls and Wendell on Wednesday, May 28, crews with Central Specialties were busy giving a facelift to the heavily traveled County Road 1, which was built in 1948, including new culverts and widening the busy road.
“You never know what you might uncover. The construction practices were different 50 years ago compared to now, so you are always in for some surprises,” said Alex Sweep with Central Specialties.
“We have 1,067 miles of paved county roads, which is the second-largest system outside of the metro area (Twin Cities), second only to St. Louis County,” said Krysten Foster, Otter Tail County engineer.
There are some state lawmakers who feel Greater Minnesota often gets the short end of the stick when it comes to transportation and road funding.
“Unfortunately, we have seen hundreds of millions of dollars get spent on failed commuter rail and light rail projects in the Twin Cities metro, and the needs are really here in greater Minnesota,” said Sen. Jordan Rasmusson, R-Fergus Falls.
“The state needs to invest in this core infrastructure and especially like Otter Tail County, where we not only have year-round residents but a lot of Minnesotans visiting us in the summertime,” Rasmusson said.
Millions will be spent this summer on Otter Tail road projects. With over 1,000 miles of paved county roads, it’s expensive.
“We have a $45 million budget for 2025 that includes road maintenance and construction services,” Foster said.
Otter Tail County says just to keep up the system of roads, it needs an additional $16 million a year. And the county’s population is growing.
In all, people travel 52 billion miles on Minnesota roads every year. Minnesota has the fifth-largest highway system in the nation, but half the highways are more than 50 years old.
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