TED program funds are providing $1.15 million, which represents 50% of the project costs, the remaining half of the project is being matched with funds from Goodhue County ($1.05 million) and the City of Zumbrota ($98,000). The City is also financing all water, sanitary sewer, and storm sewer expansions necessary to support all future industrial growth.
Project Description
This TED project is a collaborative effort between MnDOT District 6, Goodhue County, and the City of Zumbrota to accommodate further industrial development and improve safety by closing an existing at-grade interchange at 445th Street and Hwy 52. The project involves designating two unpaved county roads as an extension of County Road 68 and to upgrade those roadways to 10-ton standard to allow increased industrial traffic.
Transportation Impacts
The project removes an at-grade access onto a very busy segment of Hwy 52 which substantially improves safety and promotes sustainability by providing an alternative safe access to the industrial park from an existing full-access interchange at Hwy 60.
Economic Development Impacts
The project provides safe and efficient, grade separated access to Hwy 52 for future industrial expansion of over 440 developable acres zoned for industrial development. In the immediate term, the project accommodates the expansion of an existing business, VersaCold Logistics, a cold storage warehouse distribution facility. VersaCold currently employs 35 people at the Zumbrota facility and 125 people statewide. The improvement will support an expansion of the existing facility by 75,000 square feet, adding an estimated $4.8 million in taxable market value and adding an additional 25 well paying jobs.
