Minnesota Notes

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Minor detail I noticed a while ago, and one I just thought of again: anyone have any idea why US-61 (North) is not mentioned on the Mounds Blvd exit (Exit 243) on I-94? Seems like an omission in error to me, even if MnDOT wants to rid themselves of maintaining US-61 on surface roads in St. Paul.

I assumed it was because it was redundant to I-35E and they wanted to discourage people from using the surface street. I can't ever remember there being a mention of US 61 at the eastbound exit to Mounds. Until the recent I-94 rebuild project there were no US 61 reassurance markers on the I-94 duplex either, but those have been added now.

[Mdcastle]

The area around the I-35W projectisn't very saf so I don't know how much wandering around with a large camera I'm going to be doing, and I'm not too excited about it since it does virtually nothing too fix the congestion problem in the area, but here's one of the former downtown exits.
IMG_1491[1] by North Star Highways, on Flickr

[froggie]

and I'm not too excited about it since it does virtually nothing too fix the congestion problem in the area

I'd disagree with this.  The end project will have some significant operational improvements, including additional lanes in a few spots and a permanent 8+2HO/T from the Crosstown to the downtown split (instead of just to 42nd St).

[TheHighwayMan3561]

Almost six years to the day after the flood that closed MN 210 in Jay Cooke for five years, MN 23 in the same area was washed out last night by significant flooding in NE Minnesota/NW Wisconsin.

[MNHighwayMan]

News article with some pictures and more information.

https://www.mprnews.org/story/2018/06/17/flash-flooding-northeastern-minnesota-northwestern-wisconsin-carlton-county-superior

[TheHighwayMan3561]

It looks like MN 23 will be out of commission for some time. Weeks or more. It's not that heavily travelled compared to I-35 of course, so it's not the worst thing to ever happen.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

In the latest round of GPS dumbassery...

MNDot's official Facebook page shared that a motorist drove around barriers and damaged a freshly-laid concrete part of a US 63 rebuild north of Rochester.

Yay.

[Bickendan]

Damn. I'd love to see photos of that.

[texaskdog]

The area around the I-35W projectisn't very saf so I don't know how much wandering around with a large camera I'm going to be doing, and I'm not too excited about it since it does virtually nothing too fix the congestion problem in the area, but here's one of the former downtown exits.
IMG_1491[1] by North Star Highways, on Flickr

what is this a picture of?

[froggie]

Damn. I'd love to see photos of that.

KARE11 did a story on it.  It appears to be more a case of old age driver confusion than "GPS dumbassery".

what is this a picture of?

Here.  As part of the I-35W reconstruction between 42nd St and downtown Minneapolis, they're completely ripping up the connector to 4th/5th Avenues and adding bus-only ramps between the future HO/T lanes and 12th St.  The photo is taken from the 15th St overpass.

[n0ax]

I was browsing online in relation to the announced corridors for commerce funding which would widen 494 by adding a MnPass lanes and rebuild the 35W/494 interchange in a turbine configuration. Looking back there appears to be a visualization of 494 posted online circa 2007, which included widening 494 to ten lanes each direction and going forward with the 2001 494/35W interchange study recommendation of using full flyovers. Does anyone know if the former visualization was apart of a broader study or plan to rebuild 494?

[Bickendan]

Damn. I'd love to see photos of that.

KARE11 did a story on it.  It appears to be more a case of old age driver confusion than "GPS dumbassery".

what is this a picture of?

Here.  As part of the I-35W reconstruction between 42nd St and downtown Minneapolis, they're completely ripping up the connector to 4th/5th Avenues and adding bus-only ramps between the future HO/T lanes and 12th St.  The photo is taken from the 15th St overpass.

Is the old MN 65 mainline into downtown getting rebuilt then?

[froggie]

I was browsing online in relation to the announced corridors for commerce funding which would widen 494 by adding a MnPass lanes and rebuild the 35W/494 interchange in a turbine configuration. Looking back there appears to be a visualization of 494 posted online circa 2007, which included widening 494 to ten lanes each direction and going forward with the 2001 494/35W interchange study recommendation of using full flyovers. Does anyone know if the former visualization was apart of a broader study or plan to rebuild 494?

Not quite 10 lanes in each direction...I believe that 2001 plan was for 6 each way between 100 and 35W.  And yes, it was part of a broader study to rebuild 494 between 394 and the Minnesota River.  Of course, MnDOT didn't have the ~$1B it would have taken to implement even the revised 2001 study (revised from what was proposed in the early '90s), so they've been chopping away piecemeal at it.  The widenings between 394 and 100 and the later interchange revisions at 169 were the result of this "chopping away piecemeal".

Is the old MN 65 mainline into downtown getting rebuilt then?

Yes...that's what you see in the photo that texaskdog referenced....that's the rebuilding.

[paulthemapguy]

Damn. I'd love to see photos of that.

Image of the ruined concrete on US63 in Rochester.



Courtesy of https://twitter.com/mndotsoutheast/status/1012693540718211072

[MNHighwayMan]

I noticed today that MnDOT is installing new alternate I-35 route designations.







They were posted on almost every exit from the Iowa border to the Elko/New Market exit. I don't think either I-90 exit or the US-14 exits had them. There are probably others.

Some of them were missing the yellow tab on top, such as this one from the NB offramp to MN-251. Note that they have the wrong direction installed on this one.

[SSOWorld]

Catching up with Iowa's "Emergency Detour" and Wisconsin's "Alternate" escape routes.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

I-94 has a few in Douglas County, but I think those may have been county installs.

[jakeroot]

Seems MNDOT's variation is rather wordy. Wouldn't the placards normally say "ALTERNATE" or "ALT"?

[froggie]

^ Appears to stem from a research and pilot project MnDOT conducted with a consultant in 2014-15.  The study included I-94 through District 3 which, depending on where THM394 saw the Douglas County signs, might explain those signs.

[EDIT] Here's a MnDOT press release about the ALT I-94 signs.  Looks like MnDOT extended the I-94 alternate route signage into District 4, which definitely would explain those Douglas County signs.

[MNHighwayMan]

On my way up north, I also found this sign on NB MN-101:

[Revive 755]

Seems MNDOT's variation is rather wordy. Wouldn't the placards normally say "ALTERNATE" or "ALT"?

They appear to be basing them on a recent FHWA interpretation on alternate route/incident bypass signing.

Iowa has at least one assembly on mainline westbound I-80 that follows the interpretation - IIRC it is before the exit for US 71.

[MNHighwayMan]

The four routes around Mille Lacs Lake (plus a county road) have now been designated as a scenic byway:

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/newsrels/18/07/18-new-scenic-byway.html

[SSOWorld]

Well the rest of Iowa, WI, IL and IN seem to be in violation of that now... (Given for IL and WI since they use ALT and Alternate banners respectively)

[TheHighwayMan3561]

The four routes around Mille Lacs Lake (plus a county road) have now been designated as a scenic byway:

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/newsrels/18/07/18-new-scenic-byway.html

I'm interested to see its special scenic route shield. If they've made a design and released it it wasn't in that article.

[ET21]

Catching up with Iowa's "Emergency Detour" and Wisconsin's "Alternate" escape routes.

And Illinois to a lesser extent, mainly for I-39