When Mark Schoenfelder was asked to consider a nominee for the Department of Transportation’s Partnership Award, Rice County immediately came to mind.
“Rice County is a strong transportation partner,” MnDOT District 6 Transportation Engineer Schoenfelder told the Board of Commissioners during its Aug. 12 meeting.
The statewide award, which recognizes entities and organizations MnDOT officials consider highly collaborative, is given annually.
While Schoenfelder understands, and recognized all Rice County staff and its Board of Commissioners when presenting the award, he singled out County Engineer Dennis Luebbe, now in his 24th year with the county.
“He fights hard for the county’s interests as well as looking out for transportation as a whole and within the region,” said Schoenfelder, listing several recent collaborations between his office and Rice County to support his nomination.
This fall, Rice County will finish paving County Road 46/Hazelwood Avenue, the final section of two Interstate 35 frontage roads – one east, one west -- that run from the Dakota County line to Faribault. These roads not only serve as an additional north/south corridor and alternate route should the interstate close, but are expected to help drive industrial/commercial growth.
Last year, the county completed a six-legged roundabout at the I-35/Hwy. 19 interchange, a long-awaited safety improvement. It was Luebbe who accelerated the project by cobbling together funding from five different sources, including three state grants, to pay for what normally would have been a state-led project.
As county highway engineer, Luebbe often works with township and city officials in Rice County to assist in developing a and maintaining a strong transportation network. Currently, he’s collaborating with Faribault city leaders on developing a new I-35 interchange at County Road 9, just west of several industrial facilities including Daikin, Trystar and Met-Con, and is working with officials in Dundas and Northfield on road projects in those cities.
State Sen. John Jasinski, who in 2021 helped deliver state funding for a study of the proposed interchange and is currently ranking minority member on the Senate Transportation Committee, praised both Luebbe and Schoenfelder.
“These guys are great assets to have here in Rice County,” he told the commissioners. “You guys should be grateful.”
