County Roads 42 and 17 Interchange to be Reconstructed

Prior Lake, Minnesota – While the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community is not legally required to pay for improvements to the system of roads and highways that lead to its reservation, it has a history and practice of paying for road construction near and through the reservation. Since 1996 the SMSC paid more than $6.6 million for shared local road construction projects and an additional $5 million for road projects on the reservation.

The SMSC, Scott County, and the City of Shakopee are cooperating on a reconstruction project for the intersection of County Roads 42 and 17/Marschall Road. Federal and tribal funds will be used for the project with the SMSC contributing $1.65 million of the project, with an estimated total cost of between $5 and $7 million.

This intersection has a high crash rate with four fatalities since 2005. In addition to making this a safer intersection, grade separation will provide for efficient movement of traffic in the area; an overpass will carry traffic north on CR 17. Separate exit and entrance ramps will dramatically decrease the possibility of t-bone accidents at this intersection. Improvements along CR 17 approximately 1,500 feet north and south of CR 42 will include trails and storm water treatment ponding. Extensive right of way acquisition will be necessary. Construction will be completed in 2012.

“Since this is the route that our ambulances take to get to the hospital and school buses take to get to Shakopee schools, as well as local residents to their homes and jobs, we thought it was important to participate in this project to address immediate safety problems and accommodate growing traffic on this important roadway,” said SMSC Chairman Stanley R. Crooks.

CR 17 is a vital north-south corridor from rural Scott County in the south to Highways 169 and 101 in the north. CR 42 provides east-west mobility from Shakopee through Scott and Dakota Counties. CR 17 carries more than 7,000 average annual daily trips with a volume on CR 42 of 6,800. The roadways are currently designated as minor arterials; it is expected that they will function as higher volume roadways in future years.

A future construction phase on CR 17 to develop it into four lanes from CR 42 to St. Francis Regional Medical Center is expected to start in 2013.

In previous years the SMSC has paid for road construction on County Road 42, County Road 83, County Road 82, McKenna Road, and others, including the installation of traffic control signals (stoplights). The SMSC utilizes its financial resources from gaming and non-gaming enterprises to pay for the internal infrastructure of the Tribe, including but not limited to roads, water and sewer systems, emergency services, and essential services to its Tribal members in education, health, and welfare.