PROGRESS - Ash Avenue South in front of the NRHEG secondary school was paved the evening of Thursday, Oct. 2. The street was dug up last spring and has been under construction since. The road is driveable; at least one additional layer of paving will be applied before the project is finished. School buses delivering and picking up students at the secondary site have traditionally made a "loop" using Ash Avenue, Fourth Street Southwest and Broadway Avenue. Buses are currently turning around in front of the school because Fourth Street and Broadway are not yet driveable. The two surfaces are scheduled to be paved by Oct. 17. Star Eagle photo by Deb Bently
New Richland street project takes major step
With Ash Avenue South paved, Fourth Street SW and Broadway near completion
With Ash Avenue South paved, Fourth Street SW and Broadway near completion
Wed, 10/08/2025 - 11:45pm
After being driveable as an unpaved road since the beginning of the school year, New Richland’s Ash Avenue South received its first round of asphalt paving the evening of Thursday, Oct. 2. Ash Avenue extends about four blocks southward from Highway 30 before coming to a dead end; that full length is now paved.'
A major construction project which began last June has had Ash Avenue, Broadway Avenue and Fourth Street Southwest open only to local traffic for the past four months. The project, which included removing and replacing aging underground infrastructure for water supply, sanitary sewer, storm drainage and more, was scheduled to be complete before the beginning of the school year, but persistent heavy rainfall blocked progress.
Heather Christensen, city deputy clerk and acting city administrator, observed that work crews from contractor JJD Companies LLC out of Blooming Prairie had little choice but to “wait for the ground to dry” in between rainfalls before they could continue working.
NRHEG Secondary principal Grant Berg stated having the road paved will likely make it easier to keep the school looking neat and clean, since it will greatly reduce the amount of mud and dust tracked into the building. However, “it won’t streamline operations until Broadway is drivable and the buses can make their loop without having to turn around.”
The “loop” Berg referred to follows both Fourth Street and Broadway Avenue, neither of which is open to through traffic at this time. Christensen said current plans include having the other two surfaces drivable and paved by Oct. 17. At this time, buses in the process of delivering or retrieving students are turning around in the driveway of the school parking lot and driving back north on Ash Avenue to get to Hwy 30. Doing so is a slow process in a relatively narrow space with other buses, cars and pedestrians in the vicinity.
Updates to this project can be found online at 2025 Street Project | City of New Richland.