Victoria leaders outline Highway 5 mega‑project timeline, staging and funding

A workshop of the Victoria City Council on Highway 5 and the Arboritum Area Transportation Plan focused on the project’s scope, staging and funding, and on how the city and partner agencies will keep residents and businesses informed during two intensive construction seasons.

City Engineer Cara Garren opened the presentation by introducing project partners and said the main push has been to consolidate a long list of short, mid and long‑term corridor work into one larger project to avoid repeated closures. Lyndon Robent of Carver County, who led the project team, told the council the group began the study in 2019 and has since “consolidated…into one mega project” that has attracted competitive funding and reduced local cost burdens. “We have a fully funded project,” Robent said.

Why it matters: staff and elected officials said the consolidated approach limits the community’s time under construction by compressing many smaller projects into a single multi‑year program, even though the concentrated closures will be painful for some residents and businesses.

Design, staging and key elements Dan Lis, the Highway 5 project manager, walked the council through a simulation and detailed staging plan. Highlights include double left‑turn lanes at critical intersections, the Meline Creek underpass, Rolling Acres Road improvements, a new Minasha Parkway/Arboritum access signal, and an underpass for the regional trail. The team intends to do preparatory work in 2026 and a single major Highway 5 seasonal closure in 2027 with a target of turning on the new signal at the Arboritum access by Oct. 1, 2027.

The staging plan is regional: the county and partner cities have sequenced nearby projects (including work on 82nd Street) so those roads can serve as alternatives while Highway 5 is closed. Staff said construction in 2026 will be largely preparatory work done under traffic, with a goal of finishing most disruptive work in a two‑season window rather than returning to the corridor repeatedly over 20 years.

Soils and local closures A geotechnical strategy called preloading (surcharge) to consolidate unstable soils on the north embankment will require long settlement periods starting in 2026 and finishing in 2027. That work will require closing Stiger Lake Lane at its connection to Highway 5 for roughly a year, removing what had been counted on as a local alternate route.

Noise mitigation and MnDOT standards Staff summarized a noise study that found only one location — townhomes near the Meline Creek underpass — met criteria for a noise wall, and that property owners at that location supported the wall in a recent public hearing. Diane Lambbach, MnDOT’s South area engineer for Carver and Scott counties, said MnDOT’s standard treatment is concrete; MnDOT would maintain the highway side of any wall while the city would maintain the local side. Aesthetic upgrades beyond MnDOT’s standard could be added locally at local expense.

Funding and local fiscal impact Project partners reported 12 funding sources and multiple federal and state awards. The project team said the overall project is roughly $121 million and that about 83% comes from outside sources, leaving an estimated county share near $12 million and a city share now estimated at about $2.4 million after recent awards and legislative changes. City staff said approximately $1.5 million of the city’s share is associated with Highway 5 work and roughly $910,000 with Rolling Acres Road; specific finance mechanisms (bonds, state aid use, or other) are still being finalized.

Local benefits and utility work Council heard that the project provides opportunities to complete local utility work (new water main loop, sewer and water relocations) while the road is open, which staff said is more cost‑effective than doing the utilities later. The work also includes sidewalks, trail replacement, landscaping and irrigation for roundabouts, a pedestrian overpass and improved active‑transportation connections.

Downtown section and funding gap Council staff said the downtown section of Highway 5 remains unfunded and estimated its completion cost at $15–20 million; the city continues to seek additional federal and state funding for that segment.

Communications and next steps Partners emphasized an active communications plan: a project mailing list, QR sign‑ups, business outreach and coordinated messaging among the city, county and MnDOT. Staff listed necessary upcoming agreements — a joint powers agreement between the city and county, cooperative agreements among MnDOT and the affected cities, and a municipal consent waiver tied to the city’s status as a partner — and said the project is being prepared for bidding in the near term.

What’s next: officials said preparatory work will proceed in 2026, the single large seasonal Highway 5 closure is planned for 2027 with efforts to open the west side earlier in the season, and the council will see intergovernmental and financing agreements in future meetings.

Quote: Commissioner Matt Udman, a Carver County commissioner, summarized the regional effort: “Sometimes the option to do nothing is always an option. … But we pulled the pieces together and got bipartisan support to try and get this done.”

The workshop ended with a motion to adjourn; the council voted in favor and the meeting was closed.