NEW LONDON—A safety improvement project at state Highways 23 and 9 by New London has been paused as the Minnesota Department of Transportation District 8 re-evaluates the plans following ongoing concerns from the New London City Council and others in the public.

“We’ve made the decision to step back to have more discussion with the community and other stakeholders to assure all perspectives of the project are considered,” said Jon Huseby, District 8 engineer, in a news release announcing the project pause.

The decision to pull back on the project means the intersection will remain pretty much in its current condition until the re-evaluation is complete, the news release said, and could delay any major improvements to 2024 and beyond.

The project, in its current state, was to include the construction of a J-turn at the intersection, which MnDOT had decided was the best way to address safety issues. The release said concerns were raised by the public after the safety assessment of the intersection was completed.

While the release did not specif[y] what those concerns were, MnDOT said it wanted to take the time to re-evaluate the safety options for the intersection and have more discussions with project stakeholders as priorities for the project might have changed since work began in 2017.

Read the full article by the West Central Tribune.