The Sherburne County Highway Dept. is discussing developing a system-wide strategy for including right-turn lanes and bypass lanes as part of resurfacing projects on county roads and intersections.

During a workshop with the county commissioners Tuesday, Public Works Director Andrew Witter said previous county board direction has been for staff to include the lanes only when property could be acquired through a willing sale for the resurfacing/paving projects, and using the eminent domain process for appropriate lanes with full reconstruction projects. 

Witter said in the past they’ve approached property owners and asked if they would be a willing seller, and if they agree, the county would go forward with the project. He said it currently takes six months to design a project, which can be done during the winter. The construction can take six months during the summer. 

But that timeline would change if the county had to use the eminent domain process.

“If we were to move forward with condemnation on resurfacing projects it would add about a year to that process,” he said.

Witter said there are 38 resurfacing projects on the county’s five-year capital improvement plan. If the county had to  use condemnation on each one, it would add an additional 38 years total.

Commissioner Felix Schmiesing said the discussion came about because he requested that the county add bypass lanes on Co. Rd. 8 near White Farm Estates because of increased traffic.

But he said that didn’t mean all resurfacing projects should automatically require bypass and turn lanes.

“I think we should be able to handle this on an individual basis,” he said. “I’m not looking for us to change our overall policy. I’m looking us to be able to react when we see a  problem and to fix it. I don’t think you hold up the whole project for it, but if you recognize an issue or a problem, we should have a way for this board to do something about it.”

Commissioner Tim Dolan said the board should be part of the process instead of setting a new policy. 

“We’ll take a look at the project,” he said. “I think the board wants to weigh the cost and benefits. If it’s additional cost that we choose we want to incur, that’s on us from a budgetary standpoint.”

The board directed Witter to come up with some criteria his department would use to determine when turn lanes and bypass lanes are necessary. They also asked for number of projects that might be affected by such criteria. Those will be discussed at a future workshop.