Road construction season promises some rough rides

Construction season is in full swing in Minnesota, with 246 road and bridge projects on the list this year.

State transportation officials announced this year's construction projects Thursday and urged drivers to pay attention and slow down.

"Pay attention, pay attention, pay attention," State Patrol Capt. Mike Hanson said. "It's time to put the phone away, it's time to turn the radio down, it's time to put that conversation with the passenger on hold."

Construction projects will span the metro area this year — from east to west — with the east seeing the heaviest, most significant impact.

Tom O'Keefe, an official with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, called projects in the east metro area a "head scratcher" that may make it tough for drivers to get around.

Work has already started on Interstate Hwy. 694 between Rice Street in Little Canada to Lexington Avenue in Arden Hills. Authorized in 2013 legislation, the project will add a lane in each direction and replace 50-year-old pavement in a heavily traveled corridor.

Crews are also working on Hwy. 36 and Lexington in Roseville, Hwy. 280 in Falcon Heights and I-94 just east of downtown St. Paul to Century Avenue in Woodbury. All projects will be under construction simultaneously, leaving few options for detours.

"We do try to avoid this," O'Keefe said. "Sometimes we can't."

O'Keefe said some new money was added to the I-94 project, so MnDOT decided to upgrade the shorter, more temporary pavement work into a thicker concrete overlay.

Crews plan to use moveable barriers to keep lanes open during peak hours and close them at other times. However, there will be days when the roads will be closed to traffic completely over the summer months.

Other projects on the 2016 construction list:

• Hwy. 100 in St. Louis Park and Edina is expected to wrap up this year, with three full lanes in each direction. The project replaces some of the oldest bridges in the metro area. Throughout this season two lanes will be open in both directions. Closures are planned for this weekend and next, starting Friday night from I-394 to Hwy. 62.

• I-494, I-394 and I-94 in Maple Grove, Plymouth and other parts of the west metro area. MnDOT is planning lane closures and urging motorists to pay attention when planning routes.

The projects this year provide much-needed maintenance work, said Lt. Gov. Tina Smith, but an expected 45 percent funding shortfall in 2018 would create new problems.

"Forecasts for state transportation revenue show that our need is quickly outstripping the available resources," she said. "Minnesota's roads, bridges and transit networks form the backbone of our economy."

Gov. Mark Dayton and Smith have a proposed a transportation funding plan that would invest $6 billion over the next 10 years. The plan would repair or replace 2,200 miles of roads and 330 bridges statewide.