U.S. Highway 14 travels in an east-west direction through southern Minnesota. The Minnesota Department of Transportation(MnDOT) has designated U.S. Highway 14 as a medium priority interregional corridor that connects the regional trade centers of New Ulm, Mankato, Waseca, Owatonna, Rochester and Winona. These communities along the U.S. Highway 14 corridor rely on U.S. Highway 14 for commerce and the safe movement of people throughout the region and to other parts of the state and nation.

Beginning in 1992, MnDOT offices joined together to conduct a corridor study for a 31-mile segment of U.S. Highway 14 from State Highway 60 (east of Eagle Lake) to Interstate 35 at Owatonna. The corridor project includes the municipalities of Janesville, Waseca, and Owatonna and travels through the counties of Blue Earth, Waseca, and Steele. It was determined that U.S. Highway 14 should be a four-lane facility with bypasses of Janesville and Waseca and a new connection at Owatonna.

Improving U.S. Highway 14 will provide rapid access between regional trade centers and connections to other interregional corridors (State Highway 60, Interstate 35, State Highway 169). This will allow an uninterrupted flow of goods, services, and workers. Indirect effects of the U.S. Highway 14 project include removing through-traffic from within the cities, thus improving safety, access and circulation within cities where local and pedestrian traffic is heavy. Providing safe roads connecting livable communities will give residents more choices to live and work.