Star Tribune
MnDOT releases list of 2023 construction projects in Minnesota
With the sudden burst of warmth, it’s suddenly road construction season in Minnesota.
Motorists across the state will feel the pinch for the next six months as the Minnesota Department of Transportation closes lanes and puts drivers on detour — and it’s just the beginning, as the agency plans to use a federal cash infusion to get even more work done in 2024 and beyond.
“Get ready for the orange cones to arrive,” MnDOT spokeswoman Anne Meyer said Wednesday as the agency released its list of projects for 2023. “We know there is inconvenience with construction, but we are making roads better for years to come.”
The season’s first weekend closure will take place Friday through Sunday on Hwy. 169 through Golden Valley and New Hope, as crews demolish the Rockford Road overpass. It’s just the start of an ambitious slate of projects that includes building new bridges, putting down new pavement on some highways and expanding others, installing cable median barriers and adding other safety improvements.
In all, MnDOT will carry out 171 road and bridge projects statewide, and 52 others to improve airports, water ports, railroad crossings and transit infrastructure. And that does not include projects that cities and counties will be working on.
At a cost of $1.3 billion, the size and scope of MnDOT’s planned work this year is comparable to that of recent years. But drivers can prepare for even more headaches beginning next year, as the agency plans to tackle a greater number of projects with an infusion of money from the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act — an average of $170 million a year for the next five years.
But this year first.
For the second — and last — summer, Hwy. 10 through Anoka will be reduced to a single lane between 7th and Thurston avenues as MnDOT completes the $98 million project to transform the highway into a freeway.
In the East Metro, the busy I-94 corridor from Oakdale to the St. Croix River will have only two lanes open this summer and next while the freeway is resurfaced and a new auxiliary lane is built from the I-94/I-494/I-694 interchange to County Road 19 in Woodbury.
South Metro drivers will feel the squeeze, too, as two projects on I-494 from Edina to Eagan threaten to snarl traffic. Crews will rebuild five bridges between Pilot Knob Road and 24th Avenue by the Mall of America. To the west, work will begin to replace bridges between Cedar Avenue and West Bush Lake Road, all ahead of a major overhaul of the I-35W/494 interchange, the busiest in the state.
Outstate drivers won’t escape motoring misery, either. MnDOT will continue resurfacing, repairing bridges and installing cable median barriers on Hwy. 52 between Rosemount and Cannon Falls. On I-35 near Faribault, traffic will be reduced to one lane and shifted to one side of the freeway for most of the summer.
Other big projects include expanding Hwy. 14 from two lanes to four between New Ulm and Nicollet, rebuilding interchanges at Hwys. 10 and 23 in St. Cloud and at Hwy. 53/I-35 in Duluth, and resurfacing I-94 west of Alexandria.
None of this year’s projects resulted from the harsh winter that left state roads in tough shape — they’ve all been on the drawing board for 6 to 10 years, Meyer said.
“We have transitions from winter and snow plows to summer and road construction,” said Jake Loesch, MnDOT’s communications director. “We know road construction can be a headache and a pain. If there was a magical way to it [without causing disruptions], we’d do it in a heartbeat.”
As work begins, MnDOT officials are reminding motorists that work zones can be dangerous. From 2019 to 2021, there were more than 7,800 work zone crashes in Minnesota, leading to 92 serious injuries and 28 deaths, according to MnDOT records.
Work zones often include lane closures, lane shifts, uneven road surfaces, heavy equipment and slow or stopped traffic. Drivers caught speeding in a work zone face a $300 fine.
“We need motorists’ help to keep everyone safe: Obey speed limits and slow down in work zones, put away cell phones and other distractions,” said Department of Transportation Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger. “Be patient, and plan ahead for detours.”
The Lynx are in the hot seat.
The team lost Game 3 of the WNBA Finals series against the New York Liberty on Wednesday night 77-80, setting the stage for a decisive match at Target Center on Friday night. Fans in the arena reacted with resounding disappointment after Sabrina Ionescu sunk a three-pointer to break away from the tie game and dashed the Lynx’s chance at forcing overtime.
Before we get to the reactions, first things first: The Lynx set an attendance record, filling Target Center with 19,521 spectators for the first time in franchise history. That’s nearly 500 more than when Caitlin Clark was in town with the Indiana Fever earlier this year.
Despite leading by double digits for much of the game, the Lynx began the fourth quarter with a one-point lead over the Liberty and struggled to stay more than two or three points ahead throughout.
The Liberty took the lead with minutes to go in the fourth quarter and folks were practically despondent.
Of course, there were people who were in it solely for the spectacle. Nothing more.
The Lynx took a commanding lead early in the first quarter and ended the first half in winning position, setting a particularly jovial mood among the fanbase to start the game.
Inside Target Center, arena announcers spent a few minutes before the game harassing Lynx fans — and Liberty fans — who had not yet donned the complementary T-shirts draped over every seat.
DULUTH – The Minnesota and Wisconsin transportation departments will make upgrades to the Richard I. Bong Memorial Bridge in the summer of 2025, in preparation for the structure to become the premiere route between this city and Superior during reconstruction of the Blatnik Bridge.
Built in 1961, the Blatnik Bridge carries 33,000 vehicles per day along Interstate 535 and Hwy. 53. It will be entirely rebuilt, starting in 2027, with the help of $1 billion in federal funding announced earlier this year. MnDOT and WisDOT are splitting the remaining costs of the project, about $4 million each.
According to MnDOT, projects on the Bong Bridge will include spot painting, concrete surface repairs to the bridge abutments, concrete sealer on the deck, replacing rubber strip seal membranes on the main span’s joints and replacing light poles on the bridge and its points of entry. It’s expected to take two months, transportation officials said during a recent meeting at the Superior Public Library.
During this time there will be occasional lane closures, detours at the off-ramps, and for about three weeks the sidewalk path alongside the bridge will be closed.
The Bong Bridge, which crosses the St. Louis River, opened to traffic in 1985 and is the lesser-used of the two bridges. Officials said they want to keep maintenance to a minimum on the span during the Blatnik project, which is expected to take four years.
Red Wing will celebrate the grand opening of its first permanent set of pickleball courts next week with an “inaugural play” on the six courts at Colvill Park on the banks of the Mississippi, between a couple of marinas and next to the aquatic center.
Among the first to get to play on the new courts will be David Anderson, who brought pickleball to the local YMCA in 2008, before the nationwide pickleball craze took hold, and Denny Yecke, at 92 the oldest pickleball player in Red Wing.
The inaugural play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday, with a rain date of the next day. Afterward will be food and celebration at the Colvill Park Courtyard building.
Tim Sletten, the city’s former police chief, discovered America’s fastest-growing sport a decade ago after he retired. With fellow members of the Red Wing Pickleball Group, he’d play indoors at the local YMCA or outdoors at a local school, on courts made for other sports. But they didn’t have a permanent place, so they approached the city about building one.
When a city feasibility study came up with a high cost, about $350,000, Sletten’s group got together to raise money.
The courts are even opening ahead of schedule, originally set for 2025.
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