Monster trucks rolling through Hutchinson

The increasing popularity of wind power in Minnesota and elsewhere means the line of oversized trucks with wind turbine parts rolling through Hutchinson and other area cities isn’t likely to end anytime soon.

The trucks, some as long as 215 feet and as wide as 15 feet, have to be specially routed. Until construction of the roundabout on Hutchinson’s north side, State Highway 15 was the preferred route between St. Cloud and New Ulm, according to Dave Johnston, a District 8 region engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Hutchinson office.

“Our roundabouts just aren’t big enough to accommodate monster loads like that,” Johnston said. “We talked to our oversized permit people, and we think we’ve got it straighten out now.”

Johnston said the trucks are now routed on U.S. Highway 12 to Litchfield and then come into Hutchinson on State Highway 22 from the west. They turn south on Highway 15 through Hutchinson.

Read more in the Oct. 2 print edition of the Leader.

(Terry Davis is a Hutchinson Leader staff writer. E-mail him at davis@hutchinsonleader.com.)