Carver County approves $86.6 million contract for Highway 5 Arboretum-area project
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Summary
The Carver County Board voted to award an $86,617,274.89 construction contract to CS McCrossan Inc. for the Highway 5 Arboretum-area work; staff described a ~$117 million total project with 80% federal construction funding and a pending $25 million DOT grant, and outlined a 2026–2027 construction schedule with closures and staging plans.
The Carver County Board voted to award a construction contract to CS McCrossan Inc. for the Highway 5 Arboretum-area project, approving the county engineer's authority to order the $86,617,274.89 contract contingent on execution of a cooperative construction agreement with the state and final contract review.
County project staff presented a broad overview of the multi-year project — work in Victoria, Chaska and Chanhassen that includes roundabouts, multiple pedestrian underpasses, trail improvements and a long stabilized causeway over the Lake Minnewashita area. Staff said low bids reduced the originally estimated construction cost, and the total assembled funding package now places the full project cost near $117 million after leveraging more than $100 million in outside funds.
Staff reported 80% of construction costs are federally funded. A key funding piece is a $25 million DOT grant the county said is pending federal signature; until that cooperative agreement is executed the county will sequence cash flow to use other federal funds earlier in the work. Carver County's local contribution toward the construction portion was presented in the meeting as roughly $6.6 million; the city of Victoria's share was shown as about $2.8 million.
The project manager described an aggressive staging plan intended to minimize business impacts: utilities, tree clearing and trail paving in 2026; a full closure of Highway 5 for the east/west work in 2027 with lane reductions and phased detours; and substantial completion expected by late 2027 with some cleanup into 2028.
Commissioners discussed bid competitiveness, past lessons from other county projects (Highway 41), communications and business-coordination plans (suggested short link / QR-code resources for local businesses). After discussion a motion to adopt the resolution authorizing and directing the county engineer to order the contract was approved by voice vote; the transcript records a voice vote in favor but does not include a roll-call tally.
What the approval means: CS McCrosscan Inc. is the apparent low bidder and will mobilize after contract execution and completion of outstanding items including some remaining agreements, permit matters (U.S. Army Corps of Engineers permits for wetland fill), and signature of the DOT cooperative agreement. Work is staged across 2026 and 2027 and is expected to cause periodic full and partial closures that staff plan to mitigate with advance outreach to businesses and residents.
Sources: staff presentation and project manager remarks during the Carver County Board meeting; motion and voice vote to award contract were recorded in the meeting transcript.
