Minnesota Notes

[Papa Emeritus]

Yesterday, work began to widen US 14 to 4 lanes between New Ulm and Nicollet, which means when the work is completed in the fall of 2023, it will be 4 lanes all the way from New Ulm to Rochester.

The project will also reroute 14 on a new terrain bypass of Courtland.

https://www.startribune.com/ground-broken-on-final-leg-of-hwy-14-expansion-between-rochester-and-new-ulm/600166140/

It will be interesting to see if 14 ever gets widened to the west, to Sleepy Eye and the cities further west.

[froggie]

It will be interesting to see if 14 ever gets widened to the west, to Sleepy Eye and the cities further west.

I doubt it.  Volumes west of New Ulm don't justify it, and MnDOT told me that 85% of the traffic to/from the east on 14 has an origin or destination in New Ulm so a bypass wasn't warranted either.

[bschultzy]

I agree 100% about the Texas / Blake area on 7. Building interchanges on 7 at Wooddale and Louisiana was a good idea, especially because the Louisiana interchange makes it easier for emergency vehicles and patients to get from 7 to Methodist Hospital. However, westbound traffic on 7 goes up the hill west of Louisiana then after the crest of the hill has to slow down quickly if the traffic light at Texas is red.

The former site of Atlas Cold Storage on Blake south of 7 is going to be redeveloped into a high rise residential complex, and an empty overflow parking lot across from Texa Tonka mall at the Texas / Minnetonka intersection is also being turned into high rise residential housing. Further north, a parcel of land on the east side of Louisiana between 27th Street and the Burlington Northern tracks is for sale, and will likely be turned into high rise housing, too. Once these complexes are complete, the congestion on 7 in this area is going to get worse, and it doesn't seem like St Louis Park has any plans to address the issue.

The Texa-Tonka and Louisiana projects likely have far more implications for Minnetonka Blvd, Louisiana Ave, and Cedar Lake Rd traffic headed toward 394, 169, or 100, IMO. I live 3/4 mile north of 7 in SLP, and rarely use 7 to go anywhere. There are far easier and better ways to get where I'm going, thanks to the plethora of interchanges on 169 and 100.

Thankfully, SLP is studying the Louisiana/Cedar Lake intersection and surrounding area, and Hennepin Cty is studying improvements to Minnetonka Blvd.

[Molandfreak]

It will be interesting to see if 14 ever gets widened to the west, to Sleepy Eye and the cities further west.

It's not going to happen. They studied a full bypass of New Ulm and found very little thru traffic there.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

It will be interesting to see if 14 ever gets widened to the west, to Sleepy Eye and the cities further west.

It's not going to happen. They studied a full bypass of New Ulm and found very little thru traffic there.

The proof of this was where MN 15 was made to be the through movement at the new 14/15 interchange, not 14.

[froggie]

One could argue that the interchange design is due to inertia, given it's also the pre-existing condition.  The hill climb/descent on 15 also played a factor.

As I mentioned upthread, MnDOT specifically told me that the O/D data is why they didn't look at a 14 bypass.

[DJ Particle]

It will be interesting to see if 14 ever gets widened to the west, to Sleepy Eye and the cities further west.

It's not going to happen. They studied a full bypass of New Ulm and found very little thru traffic there.

The proof of this was where MN 15 was made to be the through movement at the new 14/15 interchange, not 14.

Looks like one intersection on US-14 in the general area was converted from an interchange to a rotary.

[froggie]

^ Really a roundabout but since you're from Mass we'll forgive the oversight...😊

Yes, that was the former folded-diamond at Front St.  They needed to replace the bridge (which also bridges over the rail tracks) but volumes didn't warrant keeping the full interchange.  Also slows traffic coming into town for the 2 blocks of neighborhood before reaching Broadway/MN 68.

[DJ Particle]

^ Really a roundabout but since you're from Mass we'll forgive the oversight...😊

LOL..  I've also been known to still call MN State Highways "routes" too. 🤣

[Great Lakes Roads]

Why isn't there a dedicated Wikipedia page on US Route 14 in Minnesota? Someone should definitely do one at some point.

[froggie]

Found this graphic buried on MnDOT's I-90/US 52 project page.  It may explain why they're only looking at one flyover (SB 52 to EB 90) and not adding additional ramps to remove what are apparently low-count left turn movements.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Found this graphic buried on MnDOT's I-90/US 52 project page.  It may explain why they're only looking at one flyover (SB 52 to EB 90) and not adding additional ramps to remove what are apparently low-count left turn movements.

I think it's the entire explanation. The SB/WB and EB/NB movements of 52/90 are handled by US 63. WB/SB and NB/EB are mostly going to use MN 74 or CSAH 7. There's just no need for major changes beyond the needed SB/EB upgrade.

[Roadguy]

Met Council Regional Solicitation Projects were submitted and posted this Spring, this is for distribution of federal funding to non-state agencies in the metro area. Helps a person see where local priorities are for transportation infrastructure improvements in the metro area: https://metrocouncil.org/Transportation/Planning-2/Transportation-Funding/Regional-Solicitation/Results-of-Solicitations/2022-Applications.aspx

[froggie]

Some interesting requests in there.  Amongst the more major highway-related proposals:

• 3 proposed DDI's:  I-94/MN 101, US 169/CSAH 130/85th Ave, and MN 100/West 50th St/Vernon Ave
• Completion of a full interchange at I-35E and County Rd J on the Ramsey/Anoka County line.  Ramp terminals would be roundabouts which would also access the adjacent frontage/backage roads.
• Completion of a full interchange at MN 610/CSAH 1/East River Rd.  Except now they're not proposing the WB ramps to tie directly into East River/Foley...instead, they'd tie into East River just south of the existing WB on-ramp and the proposed WB off-ramp would loop over itself in the space bounded by East River, Foley, the railroad, and 610.
• A hybrid interchange on MN 65 at 105th and CSAH 12/109th in Blaine.  Fundamentally a diamond at 109th except the NB off-ramp would be at 105th.  One-way frontage roads would run on each side of 65 between 105th and 109th, intersecting both in a dogbone configuration (i.e. like roundabouts).

[Mdcastle]

We just can't get away from building freeways that end in traffic signals at another freeway.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

We just can't get away from building freeways that end in traffic signals at another freeway.

Beyond the summer traffic issues, the commuter headaches and trucks that have come with the explosive growth of Rogers along with Wright and Sherburne counties to me makes anything short of a free-flowing SB 101-EB 94 movement worthless.

[froggie]

Reading through latest NW River Crossing study, MnDOT mentions the 94/101 interchange.  Cost estimate of the DDI (in 2019) was $22-26M.  Meanwhile, the cost estimate for a SB-to-EB flyover was over $100M.  So it's no shock that they're pursuing the DDI...it'll be easier to fund.

Meanwhile, it looks like MnDOT will be permanently realigning MN 67 onto MN 274 and Yellow Medicine CSAH 2 in order to get around the slope failure near the Minnesota and Yellow Medicine Rivers.  Apparently, spending $30M to fix a road that has an AADT around 400 is too much.  And frankly I don't blame them there.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Meanwhile, it looks like MnDOT will be permanently realigning MN 67 onto MN 274 and Yellow Medicine CSAH 2 in order to get around the slope failure near the Minnesota and Yellow Medicine Rivers.  Apparently, spending $30M to fix a road that has an AADT around 400 is too much.  And frankly I don't blame them there.

There's a couple block stretch of MN 274 on the west side of Wood Lake that will be turned back to Yellow Medicine County.

This will also significantly extend the (currently very short) wrong-way duplex of MN 23 and MN 67 well to the south of downtown Granite Falls, the only such state highway overlap I'm aware of in Minnesota.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I drove US 10 through Anoka and Elk River yesterday.

-US 10 through Anoka, as mentioned above, is not a fun drive right now. Very narrow temporary single thru lane with very short turn lanes. The temporary uncontrolled left turn to access Fairoak Avenue from WB 10/169 looks absolutely terrifying.
-A temporary stoplight has been set up on the east fringe of downtown Elk River where traffic going from WB 10 to SB 101 U-turns onto eastbound 10 to get to 101. The NB 101 bridge over US 10 has been removed.

[rte66man]

I drove US 10 through Anoka and Elk River yesterday.

-US 10 through Anoka, as mentioned above, is not a fun drive right now. Very narrow temporary single thru lane with very short turn lanes. The temporary uncontrolled left turn to access Fairoak Avenue from WB 10/169 looks absolutely terrifying.
-A temporary stoplight has been set up on the east fringe of downtown Elk River where traffic going from WB 10 to SB 101 U-turns onto eastbound 10 to get to 101. The NB 101 bridge over US 10 has been removed.

We are heading up north in a few months from Oklahoma. We usually take 35 to 494 to 94 to 101 to 169.  Given the construction, are we better off in finding an alternate route?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I drove US 10 through Anoka and Elk River yesterday.

-US 10 through Anoka, as mentioned above, is not a fun drive right now. Very narrow temporary single thru lane with very short turn lanes. The temporary uncontrolled left turn to access Fairoak Avenue from WB 10/169 looks absolutely terrifying.
-A temporary stoplight has been set up on the east fringe of downtown Elk River where traffic going from WB 10 to SB 101 U-turns onto eastbound 10 to get to 101. The NB 101 bridge over US 10 has been removed.

We are heading up north in a few months from Oklahoma. We usually take 35 to 494 to 94 to 101 to 169.  Given the construction, are we better off in finding an alternate route?

I guess I would need more information about where specifically you're headed. If it's to Lake Mille Lacs or somewhere on 169, you're probably stuck with 101/169 still being your best option. But if it's to the Brainerd Lakes region or involves 371, you might be willing to try MN 24 or MN 15 to US 10 to get to 371 (knowing 169 to MN 18 is also a popular route to Brainerd).

[Rothman]

I drove US 10 through Anoka and Elk River yesterday.

-US 10 through Anoka, as mentioned above, is not a fun drive right now. Very narrow temporary single thru lane with very short turn lanes. The temporary uncontrolled left turn to access Fairoak Avenue from WB 10/169 looks absolutely terrifying.
-A temporary stoplight has been set up on the east fringe of downtown Elk River where traffic going from WB 10 to SB 101 U-turns onto eastbound 10 to get to 101. The NB 101 bridge over US 10 has been removed.

We are heading up north in a few months from Oklahoma. We usually take 35 to 494 to 94 to 101 to 169.  Given the construction, are we better off in finding an alternate route?

I guess I would need more information about where specifically you're headed. If it's to Lake Mille Lacs or somewhere on 169, you're probably stuck with 101/169 still being your best option. But if it's to the Brainerd Lakes region or involves 371, you might be willing to try MN 24 or MN 15 to US 10 to get to 371 (knowing 169 to MN 18 is also a popular route to Brainerd).

Huh.  Always just heard it as "Mille Lacs" (Mill Lacks) rather than "Lake Mille Lacs".

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Huh.  Always just heard it as "Mille Lacs" (Mill Lacks) rather than "Lake Mille Lacs".

I hear/see both. The real shibboleth is if someone calls it by its official name of "Mille Lacs Lake", which THAT term is never used here outside of official DNR contexts.

[Mdcastle]

I always thought you could tell a non-local by the way they pronounced Shakopee, Cloquet, and Wayzata.

[Rothman]

I always thought you could tell a non-local by the way they pronounced Shakopee, Cloquet, and Wayzata.

As long as they watch Fargo, they'll be okay.