After rising nearly 12 feet above flood stage, the Minnesota River has crested in Chaska.

At about 1 p.m., Tuesday, the river crested at 29.90 feet, dropping to 29.41 feet Thursday morning.

That’s good news for commuters anxious to resume their regular routes across the river.

Last Friday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) closed both the Highway 41 bridge in Chaska and the Highway 101 bridge in Shakopee. Those closures came a day after high water necessitated the closure of Scott County Road 9 near Jordan forcing drivers to head south to Belle Plaine or north to Bloomington to get across the Minnesota River.

At last count, eight roads were closed across Carver County thanks to both the Minnesota and Crow rivers (17 had been closed at one point). In Carver, the city was forced to close the Main Street and Third Street bridges and construct temporary sand levees to keep creek waters from possibly backing up into the city.

Road closed

In Chaska, drivers pulled U-turn after U-turn when greeted with “Road Closed” signs and cement barriers at First Street.  Commuters should expect to continue to see those signs for the next few weeks.

According to Mark Fischbach, south regional superintendent for MnDOT, once the waters recede there will likely be “significant repairs to the road.”

Fischbach said that in addition to allowing the roadway to dry, MnDOT will also come in and remove trees and debris left behind by the high water.

“Past history has been anywhere from two weeks to a month,” answered Fischbach when asked how long the road could be closed.

While the bridge has been closed to drivers, pedestrians have been making good use of it to check out the rising Minnesota River. For the past week, curious onlookers have flocked to the riverfront.

Tommy’s Malt Shop, on West First Street, is one business that has benefitted from the extra foot traffic.

“We’ve been very, very busy,” said owner Brett Geselle. “Certainly it’s helped us out.”

Geselle said that he was unsure at first how the bridge closure would affect business, but noted that “surprisingly, it’s been really good for us.”

Geselle said that he’s attracted plenty of new customers, as river watchers from Carver to Victoria to Waconia have all found his restaurant while wandering around downtown Chaska.

Clean up

For Chaska Public Works Superintendent Tim Wiebe, this flood has gone smoothly.

“Things are going very well,” he said. “There’s been no issues we’ve seen so far.”

Wiebe credited dry weather with helping keep the high water manageable in Chaska.

However, Athletic Park – the sole Chaska property remaining in the flood plain – will require a bit of elbow grease once the waters recede.

“We’ve got 6 to 7 feet of water on the field right now,” he said Tuesday morning.

Last week, volunteers from Chaska High School and the Chaska Cubs worked alongside the city’s public works staff and Sentence-to-Serve offenders to remove everything from the grandstand at Athletic Park.

“Now it’s just a waiting game,” said Wiebe.

When the waters recede, Public Works staff will head back into the park to clean up the silt and other river remnants.

“We’ve done this a few times now,” he said. “We know from experience that it’s better to start cleaning while things are still somewhat wet.”

How soon the field will be usable remains in question. During the flood of 2001, high water killed the grass and forced the city to re-seed the entire park, rendering it out of commission until July, Wiebe said.

Wiebe expects that there will also be some minor work to do at Winkel Park when all is said and done, but overall, the city’s levee has done its job, keeping the water out of the city and keeping damage at a minimum.

“All of these things we’re talking about are things we can fix,” said Wiebe.

Carver

By last Thursday, the Minnesota River had inundated Carver’s Riverside Park, joining the nearby waters of Chaska Lake.

Firefighters and the Carver County Sheriff’s Mounted Posse have been watching the Carver levee and pumps 24 hours a day, setting up a command center tent on Main Street.

Last Thursday the Carver City Council unanimously approved declaring a “local emergency” at a special meeting. Carver Mayor Jim Weygand stressed that the downtown levee is secure. However, floodwaters were backing up Spring Creek, which runs through the center of downtown.

As a result, the council gave the go-ahead to add sand barriers on top of the Main Street and Third Street bridges, which connect the existing levees running along the creek. The last time the city created these barriers was in 2001. As of this Tuesday, the water had not reached the sand barriers.

Carver Public Works Director Paul Schultz said the cost is uncertain, but could range between $5,000 and $10,000.

“The right thing to do is not to gamble with the downtown area,” said Ken Carlson, with Carver County Emergency Management, before the council made the decision. “If you’re going to act, the time to act is now.”

The state of emergency allows the city to by pass certain purchasing rules, allows it to bypass road restrictions, and makes it eligible for federal reimbursement, Carlson said. Carver County has also declared a state of emergency.

Mollee Francisco, staff writer 

Mark W. Olson also contributed to this article.