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[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?

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).

We are headed to Milaca so it looks like we are stuck with 169

[froggie]

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.

Going back to MN 67 southeast of Granite Falls, I recently came upon this project website that has some interesting tidbits:

• The transfer will officially occur this fall, which is when we'll see "permanent" signage go up.
• Existing MN 67 between Granite Falls and the state park entrance will become a new route:  MN 167.
• The small bit of MN 274 in Wood Lake south of CSAH 2 will become part of CSAH 6.
• The north-south leg of old MN 67 will become part of CSAH 21.  At some point, Yellow Medicine County intends to revise the existing 67/21 intersection so that 21 is seamless, but there's no timeline for this yet.
• Improvements to the new MN 67 routing (along MN 274 and CSAH 2) will occur in 2023 or 2024.
• Removal of the river bridge east of the damaged section will occur in 2026.  Presumably this means that a park road connecting the main park to the campground will be built by then.

[Great Lakes Roads]

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.

Going back to MN 67 southeast of Granite Falls, I recently came upon this project website that has some interesting tidbits:

• Existing MN 67 between Granite Falls and the state park entrance will become a new route:  MN 167.

This will be the first time in almost 30 years that a new state road comes into existence (not counting the MN 312 since that was a temporary designation).

[kphoger]

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

Huh.  Learn something new every day.  Thanks for prompting me to look that one up.

[triplemultiplex]

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.

To help me remember, I just recall that the name means "Thousand Lakes Lake" or "the lake of a thousand lakes", to put it more poetically.


I was up near the Canadian border in Minnesota last week and holy cow is the Rainy River watershed flooded!  Historic water levels all over the place.  There were actually crews working on Memorial Day weekend to raise the roadways surface out on TH 11 as it starts to peter out among the resorts on Rainy Lake to maintain access.

And out on the water, it was truly bizarre.  One can drive a boat through the woods in many places.  All of the shoreline marshes were completely underwater and woe be to the property owners up there with improvements built at the water's edge.  Everyone's boat houses were half submerged. 

Made for tougher fishing; fewest pike I've ever caught on a fishing trip to northern Minnesota.  Found some walleyes in a few spots and decent crappie bite, but at times, we were catching fish on what should be dry land.

[TheHighwayMan394]

This will be the first time in almost 30 years that a new state road comes into existence (not counting the MN 312 since that was a temporary designation).

A new number, yes, but not really a new state road in the sense that MN 336 was, though.

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

Huh.  Learn something new every day.  Thanks for prompting me to look that one up.

There was a discussion on Facebook about place names, and it reminded me that even within the Twin Cities we have a micro version where you can tell who is from Minneapolis and who is from St. Paul by how they say "Mahtomedi". I learned it's "matta-mee-dye"; West Metro residents often say "motto-mee-dye".

[Mdcastle]

[triplemultiplex]

I guess they're still getting some money together to fix that.
Long enough for plants to muscle in.

[Mdcastle]

Nah, per the previous conversation on the MN 67 reroute they're not going to spend $30 Million to fix it.

[froggie]

Per this news article, the Yellow Medicine County board has approved a Memorandum-of-Understanding for the road changes.  It also mentions something not listed in MnDOT's feasibility report:  apparently, using Yellow Medicine CSAH 21/Renville CSAH 10 was also considered for the MN 67 reroute.

[TheHighwayMan394]

MN 237 (a spur from I-94 to New Munich) has officially been handed over to Stearns County as it has been removed from all signage (replaced with an extension of Stearns CSAH 12).

[andarcondadont]

I am amazed by the relatively quick removal process for MN 237. I mean, the process for the removal of MN 120 and MN 244 from MN 96 to Stillwater Rd have began two decades ago, yet they are still maintained by MnDOT.

[TheHighwayMan394]

I am amazed by the relatively quick removal process for MN 237. I mean, the process for the removal of MN 120 and MN 244 from MN 96 to Stillwater Rd have began two decades ago, yet they are still maintained by MnDOT.

It's probably easier to reach agreements with rural counties for them to take lightly-travelled rural roads than for the more heavily-trafficked urban arterials. In the metro MnDOT still hasn't fully eliminated MN 101 after nearly 35 years, though they've made a lot of progress in the last several years whittling it down to just the northern segment in Carver County still on the books (remember a few years ago or so when there were three separate broken MN 101s in Carver County? lol). There's also the complication of dealing with multiple counties on things like Robert St/MN 3/old 952A that MnDOT waved the white flag on turning over because the counties wanted too much money, MN 156, MN 96, and MN 120. I don't know which county technically carries MN 120, but given Ramsey and Washington Counties each have their own name for the street carrying MN 120, that might be an issue, maybe. Side note: who the fuck has ever called it "Geneva Avenue" anyway?

[froggie]

^ Washington County and/or Oakdale, apparently.  North St Paul signs it as Division St.

[Zaphod]

Per this news article, the Yellow Medicine County board has approved a Memorandum-of-Understanding for the road changes.  It also mentions something not listed in MnDOT's feasibility report:  apparently, using Yellow Medicine CSAH 21/Renville CSAH 10 was also considered for the MN 67 reroute.

This routing was listed in the feasibility report under Section 4.3, but it was dropped from further consideration due to the state having to add more miles and taking over a river bridge.

[froggie]

Thank you.  Must've missed that when I skimmed the report previously.

[TheHighwayMan394]

The other thing I saw last weekend was on a part of I-94 that they have finished the rebuild/widen on near MN 24 - holy ISTHA-spec lane striping, Batman. Those longer, thicker, brighter broken white stripes.

[froggie]

No pic?

[TheHighwayMan394]

No pic?

It was after 11 PM.

[Mdcastle]

I supposed since everyone else is talking about the new Brooklyn Park Taco Bell:

[TheHighwayMan394]

I supposed since everyone else is talking about the new Brooklyn Park Taco Bell:

I've been asked multiple times this week since it opened if I've gone. Aside from the zoo it is going to be for at least the first week or so, I have three Taco Bells roughly equidistant surrounding my house (not even including the one in Minnetonka off of 7). Why the heck would I drive a half hour for it when I can drive less than 10 minutes?

[froggie]

Nobody in my home circles has even mentioned it.  Granted, the vast majority of my friends and family in the Twin Cities live in the south Metro.

[Coelacanth]

I am amazed by the relatively quick removal process for MN 237. I mean, the process for the removal of MN 120 and MN 244 from MN 96 to Stillwater Rd have began two decades ago, yet they are still maintained by MnDOT.

https://www.startribune.com/mayor-blocks-construction-detour-sets-off-road-fight/600181456/

I believe this is about part of the 244 alignment.

[froggie]

^ It's a former segment of 244, but according to MnDOT data it's already been turned back to Washington County.

[TheHighwayMan394]

^ It's a former segment of 244, but according to MnDOT data it's already been turned back to Washington County.

That's correct (the due E-W portion of old 244 between MN 120 and Willernie, now Washington CSAH 12). Just so it's clear this isn't the city of Birchwood Village pushing back on the county for detouring traffic through town. The official detour involves Hilton Trail, MN 36, I-694, and Century Avenue, but GPS is likely routing drivers through there because it's shorter, and the city is saying "no thanks" to that.

https://www.co.washington.mn.us/ImageRepository/Document?documentId=51808