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Large city roads project gets underway in May

Starting in May and lasting into the late summer the City of Benson will see significant street and sidewalk work affecting vehicle traffic flow, pedestrian walkways, and parking availability – especially in the north half of the city’s downtown.
A comprehensive road and sidewalk project will affect all three highways that go through the community – Minnesota Highway 29, Minnesota Highway 9 and U.S. Highway 12.
Construction on Benson’s roads and sidewalks will take place in two phases. First, starting in the first half of May, work will begin on the sidewalk upgrades to make them compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA.)
Sidewalks along the three highways in Benson that are not now ADA compliant - those lack the proper slope at corners, where the sidewalk is broken up or has sections that are uneven, and those that don’t have a dedicated landing pad for wheel chairs that allows them to sit on a flat spot before crossing – will be torn up and replaced.
The sidewalk work will take place along:
- Minnesota Highway 29 from Oregon Avenue across from the Nevada Square Apartments south to Clark Avenue south of the First Baptist Church.
- Minnesota Highway 9 - from west of the Chippewa River near Ambush Park to northeast to Sunwall Avenue just before the highway curves out of town to the northeast.
- U.S. Highway 12 - from west of 19th Street South near Running of Benson east to near Swift County Road 25 just past CNH.
At the same time, there will be storm sewer upgrades at the intersections of Atlantic Avenue and 13th Street and Atlantic Avenue and 14th Street. These are the two intersections in Benson with stoplights.
Curb and gutter work will also be done along the construction route.
The final part of this first phase is improvements to two intersections in the city:
- Minnesota Avenue west (U.S. 12) and Church Street (Minnesota 29 south)
- Atlantic Avenue (U.S. 12) in downtown Benson and 13th Street North (Minnesota 9.)
Semis traveling through Benson can have problems turning the tight intersections at Atlantic Avenue and 13th Street North downtown Benson by Bank of the West. Nearly every year the awning at Don’s Flooring will get clipped by a truck or one of the stoplights will get damaged....
 
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