CEYLON — About 30 people gathered in Ceylon earlier this week to discuss plans for the resurfacing of Highway 263 from Interstate 90 to Ceylon.

The project is slated for 2021.

Members of the Ceylon City Council were on hand, along with several Minnesota Department of Transportation representatives and a Bolton & Menk engineer.

Anne Wolff, Shauna McIntire, Lisa Bigham and Forrest Hasty represented MnDOT. Tim Lamkin was there from Bolton & Menk. And County Engineer Kevin Peyman attended.

Hasty explained that the highway will be resurfaced from under the I-90 overpass and through Welcome to County Road 26 using a milling overlay. The rest of the highway will be resurfaced using a reclamation overlay.

Hasty said the road was scheduled to be resurfaced but the reclamation process will make it much stronger. The state and county agreed the state will reclaim the road, then the county will be responsible for it. The county does not have the funds to reclaim the road, just to resurface it. To get a stronger road, the state and county made the agreement.

The city of Ceylon needs some utility work performed on the part of the road that goes into the city, and plans to replace the lights with LED lighting. This work will be the responsibility of the city.

MnDOT will replace the road, curbs and sidewalks to be compliant with the Americans with Disability Act.

Hasty and Kevin Peyman agreed that the decision about plans for the road in Ceylon will be made by the City Council. The money to resurface the road is connected to the turnback of the road to the county. That decision also must be made by the council. Bigham and Peyman explained that the turnback money to reclaim the road and make it stronger is important since the city will have a much higher expense if that money were not available.

The plans in Ceylon include bump-outs, reverse parking and boulevards. Residents asked questions concerning these items.

Snow removal is a major concern, especially as Peyman explained that plows will have to lift their wings when they come to the bump-outs, with the city responsible for the snow left behind.

A question of slowing traffic was discussed. The bump-outs would slow traffic, but sometimes drivers get complacent and comfortable and speed is not lowered even with bump-outs.

The need for a stronger road was mentioned, especially since there may be more semis on the road when CHS expands and when Highway 263 is resurfaced to make it smoother. The stronger reclamation process would be good for 9- to 10-ton trucks.

A question about increased taxes was answered by Peyman and Hasty, who said the tax impact would be zero or minimal. The turnback funds from the state could total $4 million.

If the council decides to try to lower the speed through town, Hasty suggested a speed study but warned that such as study uses the 85 percentile of speeds detected so the speed limit may go up. He suggested using a portable “Your speed is –“ sign that could collect data to be used by the city.

Questions on reverse parking were discussed. Hasty said St. James has reverse parking on some streets and most people like it. With reverse parking, cars stop and back into parking spaces. Driving out of a space is safer than backing out into traffic. Trunks and doors open toward the sidewalk. Some older residents said they did not think they could learn that easily. They also questioned older residents walking from car to store across a grassy or snow-filled boulevard. Council members had asked for options available, so MnDOT and Bolton & Menk designed an option. But officials also say small towns must balance modern designs and traditions. Council members emphasized that residents should tell them what they want.

The city plans to host another meeting about the design, then a meeting when a contractor is hired.

The next council meeting is Oct. 8.