Cass County details 2025 construction progress, advances 2026–2030 highway and bridge plan

Cass County officials presented an update on 2025 construction projects and asked the Road Advisory Committee to forward the proposed 2026–2030 highway and bridge plan to the county commission for consideration.

The county engineer, Kyle Occhi, said favorable bids this year saved about $1,500,000 compared with the budgeted amounts and that the county is using its yearly state allotment — roughly $6,000,000 in State Construction (SC) funds — for current projects. Occhi also reported the county received $1,700,000 from a flex-fund grant shared with Barnes County to cover part of a joint project.

The update listed active and planned work across the county. Major items under way in 2025 include grading and bridge replacement on County Road 10 between Tower City and Buffalo (including a Maple River bridge deck pour planned within weeks), a subgrade repair and repaving stretch through Arthur with new culverts and storm sewer, a mill-and-overlay on County Road 26 and paving work on County Road 16. Occhi said the CR16 paving raised Cass County’s total paved miles above its gravel mileage for the first time in recent memory.

The county is also installing box culverts with county forces in the northeast part of the county and in multiple townships; Occhi said in-house installation saves an estimated 50–75% compared with contracting the work. A culvert-lining program covering former concrete roads that were crack-and-sealed then paved has also been completed, he said.

Occhi described the county’s proposed projects for 2026 and beyond: paving Conroe (County) Road 10 between Tower and Buffalo with curb, gutter and localized repaving through Buffalo; widening and full-depth reclamation of County Road 4 (bringing the top width from 24 to 36 feet, then paving in a later year); additional overlays on County Road 26 where truck traffic has increased; and a large replacement for County Road 31 (referred to in the meeting as the Bridal/Bridal(?) bridge). The CR31 bridge design timeline remains uncertain pending soils data; Occhi said the cost estimate is “up in the air” and could be roughly $8,000,000–$12,000,000, with a tentative plan to budget $5,000,000 in 2026 and $5,000,000 in 2027 and to bid the project in mid-2026 for a two-year construction window.

Committee members discussed coordination with the diversion authority and the Rush River Water Resource District. Occhi said the diversion work changes drainage patterns significantly and that completing diversion structures can reduce the size and cost of later bridge replacements because of changes in inflow and outflow. He also identified several box-culvert and bridge projects that depend on drainage work being tied in by other agencies.

The Road Advisory Committee approved two procedural actions tied to the planning work. Occhi moved to approve the 2026 proposed project list “as presented and to be heard for consideration at the 07/24/2025 budget hearing”; a second was made, and the chair ruled the motion carried. Later the committee moved to approve and forward the 2026–2030 highway and bridge plan (and the 2031–2035 planning horizon) to the county commission for final adoption at a future fall meeting; that motion also carried.

The county likewise flagged grant-seeking as a near-term priority: the presenter told the committee the last biennium had about $45 million in grant funds available and that the current biennium has more than $110 million available; he said Cass County plans to submit multiple grant applications, including for the large CR31 bridge.

Looking ahead, Occhi outlined grading and surfacing priorities through 2035 and said longer-range scheduling depends on funding and diversion construction timelines. Committee members asked for more detail on a few items, including appendices and permit totals, and were told staff would provide those figures after the meeting.

Ending: The committee closed the project update portion after votes to forward the 2026 project list to the July 24 budget hearing and to recommend the multi-year plan to the commission; staff will provide follow-up material (detailed cost appendices and any additional clarifications) before the commission hearing.