Bemidji approves 2027 Middle School Drive rebuild, EV vision statement

Drivers using one of Bemidji’s busiest corridors will feel the change first: the city council approved a 2027 Middle School Drive rebuild priced at $1.8 million, with work targeted to start in early June and tied to the larger Highway 197 reconstruction that will reshape access, safety and traffic flow across the south side of town.

The Middle School Drive project is not a stand-alone street fix. It is Phase 2 of the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Highway 197 corridor plan, which begins May 4 and runs in three phases across the 2026 and 2027 construction seasons. MnDOT says Phase 1 covers the stretch from Gillette Drive NW to Highway 71 in 2026, Phase 2 focuses on Middle School Drive in 2027, and Phase 3 follows near Hannah Avenue.

That sequencing matters for residents, businesses and school traffic. MnDOT says the broader corridor project will replace signalized intersections at Hannah Avenue, Middle School Drive and the Menards intersection with roundabouts. It also calls for a 10-foot multi-use trail on both sides of Highway 197, upgraded corridor lighting, realignment of Gillette Drive NW and turn-lane improvements. Weekly public meetings are scheduled on Wednesdays at 10 a.m. during construction.

The corridor rebuild has been years in the making. MnDOT says a 2019 study proposed a roundabout corridor that the Bemidji City Council rejected because of limited community support. A renewed effort started in 2021 through the Headwaters Regional Development Commission and a Community Review Panel, which spent about a year developing a new vision that the council later supported for further work.

City documents show the Middle School Drive piece has been moving through design and easement work for some time. A Nov. 12, 2024 packet showed staff presenting landscape layouts for Hannah Avenue and Middle School Drive, with two proposed roundabouts on Middle School Drive and one compact roundabout on Hannah Avenue. By March 10, 2025, staff were still working on easements and design so the city could advertise and award a contract, with the street and highway work expected to be funded mainly by an $18 million RAISE grant and a $5.2 million IIJA State Match grant. That packet also noted the federal RAISE funds had been frozen at the time.

MnDOT later awarded the project to Reierson Construction with a bid of $16.8 million. The combined city and state work now moves ahead in a city of 14,574 people, where changes to Highway 197 will affect daily travel patterns well beyond one construction season.

Alongside the road project, the council approved an electric-vehicle vision statement. In practical terms, that signals another round of planning around charging infrastructure, transportation spending and how Bemidji intends to handle changing vehicle technology. For taxpayers, it is a policy choice about where future dollars may go. For drivers, it is a sign that the city wants the corridor rebuild and the EV transition to be part of the same long-range transportation picture.