The rain did not stop people in the Little Falls area from gathering today to celebrate the completion of major road construction project that took place over the summer. Highway 27 through downtown Little Falls was reconstructed and will soon be reopened to traffic once again.

“It’s been a long, arduous process, weather interruptions. A lot of things that could go wrong went wrong but our community was extremely resilient,” said Little Falls Mayor Greg Zylka.

The construction project took place in two phases, first reconstructing Highway 27 on the east side of the Mississippi River, and then construction began on the west portion of the road.

“We knew it was going to be a long project and difficult with the business owners, but I think overall they did a very good job. The contractors did a good job and the businesses for patience, we greatly appreciate that,” said Greg Kimman, Little Falls City Engineer and Public Works Director.

The project was needed in order to reconstruct and resurface two miles of the highway, upgrade utilities, and improve signals and accessibility.

“The utilities underneath the road were extremely old. Some were as old as the 1900s so it was definitely needed to reconstruct those as well as the street. It was deteriorating pavement so we had to replace that, reconstruct it,” Kimman explained.

Though the road being closed made for a long summer, officials say it had a way of bringing the community together.

“Anytime you go through any trying times as a community, you come out stronger because everybody works so well with events in the community and I think we’re much closer,” said Zylka. “We actually have plans for using these events in the future to keep our community strong and together.”

While the project was celebrated on Tuesday, crews still have some work to complete. All lanes of the road and sidewalks are slated to be back open to the public by Saturday, October 26.

By — Rachel Johnson

Lakeland News Lead Reporter