$1.1 million grant supports truck infrastructure in Mankato.

Byline: William Morris

26,000 trucks don't just need a lot of highways to drive on. In cities like Mankato, where a Walmart distribution center opened in 2015, they need a lot of places to park.

The Department of Employment and Economic Development announced on Friday a $1.1 million grant to Mankato to extend Adams Street east of County Road 12. The project, a few hundred feet from the on-ramp to Highway 14, will create access to a 73-acre plot where the city expects to see a truck stop and another, as-yet-unannounced trucking-related business, create 154 full-time jobs, City Manager Pat Hentges said in an interview.

"The truck stop was really identified as a business need for a lot of the queuing I will call truck distribution associated with the Walmart distribution center," Hentges said, describing traffic challenges that have arisen since Walmart arrived. "I think the truck stop may have a very positive effect to local traffic around the city by keeping those trucks queuing on our four lanes and close to our four lanes, as opposed to coming through the city."

Mankato may be of particular significance to truckers due to the Walmart presence, but it's not the only part of the state where truck parking is an issue. A Department of Transportation study released in October estimated there are more than 26,000 long-haul truck trips on Minnesota roads every day, many on trips long enough to trigger mandated rest periods.

Roughly 5,800 of those trips require places to park overnight, and often many more during severe weather events or near road closures, but the state's rest areas and truck stops currently have only about 4,850 spaces. The study argues "there is a clear public need and business case for increased truck parking in Minnesota," and Hentges suspects it played a role in Mankato getting the full amount it requested for the project.

Mankato's not the only hot spot for truck traffic in southern Minnesota. Costco is building its own distribution center in...