County moves ahead with Hutchinson highway bypass

After reviewing two possible routes for a southwest Hutchinson highway bypass, the McLeod County Board Tuesday chose to move forward with the route opposed by several local landowners.

The decision is not final until the County Board officially votes on it. However, when County Highway Engineer John Brunkhorst asked for further direction, County Board members asked him to move forward with a plan to link County Road 115, which currently runs into town along South Grade Road, farther south with County Road 8. This route follows the current Vale Avenue corridor before curving east to connect with County Road 8. A T-intersection would be formed with County Road 8 coming from the west side of the county.

Margaret Schaefer, a Lynn Township resident, is the property owner who will likely be affected the most.

“I do not like the route they are picking because it’s ruining my livelihood,” she said. “When you take 60 acres of land and cut it into four triangles … who’s going to want to rent that?”

Schaefer rents her land out for farming, and believes the layout of her property, after the road cuts through it, will make farming difficult. Turning wide equipment around, such as multi-row cultivators, is easier when dealing with square or rectangular parcels of land.

“This is my livelihood,” she said. “I live on my rent. I don’t have 401k’s like … everyone else.”

To read more about what county officials and local landowners are saying about the highway bypass, see Thursday’s Leader print edition.

(Jorge Sosa is a staff writer for the Hutchinson Leader. He can be reached at sosa@hutchinsonleader.com)