A New Look for An Owatonna Street

Construction season is creeping up on us, and one Owatonna street is undergoing a major appearance change. 

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The North Cedar Avenue Streetscape project was approved by the Owatonna City Council in November 2019, and after a lot of assessments, the general planning framework is done.  

The project focuses on the three blocks between Central Park and Rose Street. One goal of these renovations is to increase ADA accessibility and pedestrian safety through the expansion of sidewalks. 

In addition, the project is looking to add more energy-efficient street lighting while also beautifying the area by planting trees (about eight per block on each side of the street) and seating throughout the street to enhance the user's experience.

Lastly, there will be updates and improvements to the sanitary sewer, roadway surface, and more. 

In the process, Cedar Avenue will lose 30 parking stalls due to the reconfiguration of angled to parallel parking.

The Design Team spent mid-November through early March reviewing current conditions. They determined a project budget, which can be found on the North Cedar Avenue Streetscape Project website.

Construction is scheduled to begin in June with the hopes that the project will be completed in Spring 2022.

If you have any outstanding questions, a great place to visit is Cedar Avenue FAQs.  If that doesn't clear up your concerns, you can check out all agendas and minutes from the city boards or contact City Council.

As with all things, change is not always easy. I'm intrigued to see the new Cedar Avenue, though the road ahead is still long. 

What are your thoughts on the new developments?