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Sibley County is requesting the state to revise some roads designated as County State Aid Highways.

Darin Mielke, Public Works Director, has asked Douglas Haeder, district state aid engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation to revoke 5.64 miles of County State Aid Highways and have the mileage reassigned to other roads.

Routes where the county state aid highway designation is proposed to be revoked are:

• 1.5 miles of CSAH 7, from CSAH 2 to the McLeod County line, in Grafton Township.

• 2.5 miles of CSAH 19, from CSAH 27 to CSAH 6 in Jessenland Township.

• .32 of a mile of CSAH 21, from Highway 5/19 to Lincoln Avenue in Gaylord (Third Street)

• .64 mile of CSAH 29, from CSAH 15 to Highway 22 in New Auburn

• .13 of CSAH 30, from CSAH 2 to Bradley Avenue in Gibbon

• .22 mile of CSAH 32 (segment one) from CSAH 33 to CSAH 1 in Winthrop

• .33 mile of CSAH 32 (segment two) from CSAH 1 to Highway 19 in Winthrop

Mielke said that preliminary approval for the changes has been reached with the municipalities.

“We feel it is appropriate to revoke this mileage because the segments of these highways do not meet the County State Aid Highway (CSAH) selection criteria for the establishment of a new CSAH route at the present time, and are not expected to meet them in the near future,” Mielke explained. The function of the road has changed since the establishment of the CSAH route, he said. The segments, he said, are functionally classified as local, except for CSAH 21, and have either a low traffic demand or usage and do not serve a county function or purpose at this time.

Some of the routes, at one time, served a creamery or milk plant, which are no longer operating.

Formal resolutions for the change will need to be adopted by the County Board of Commissioners and the City Councils.

Although the county is proposing to revoke the County State Aid Highway designation to certain roads, 4.2 miles of the county state aid highway is proposed to be reassigned.

Proposed reassignments are:

• Lincoln Avenue, from Highway 22 to the intersection with Third Street in Gaylord (New route of CSAH 21) - .21 of a mile

• County Road 60 (segment one) from CSAH 6 to Highway 25 in Faxon Township - 1.99 miles

• County Road 55, from CSAH 22 to CSAH 2 in Severance Township - 2 miles. (This segment of County Road 55 will be renumbered to CSAH 8 at the time of CSAH designation - extension of CSAH 8 west).

Sibley County proposes to bank the remaining miles, and for it to be used on County Road 60, segment two in Faxon Township (Highway 25 to County Line). It is proposed that the designation will be changed in one to two years when Carver County completes its mileage request, Mielke explained.

Mielke is anticipating it will take one or two years for the revisions to be approved. Once the State Aid Division of the Minnesota Department of Transportation gives approval, then the County Board of Commissioners must approve the formal resolution, Mielke explained. The changes will occur once the County Board approves a formal resolution for each road at a future meeting. Each city affected also has to approve a formal resolution for the road in question, he said.