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[TheHighwayMan394]

New/upcoming projects (includes known roundabout projects):

US 10/US 169/Anoka CSAH 83 in Ramsey - A partial-folded diamond (EB on-ramp loop) is planned.  If the county can get bond funding, they hope to start the project this year.

What do they plan to do with the railroad paralleling 10/169? That's a pretty high-traffic rail corridor.

[froggie]

CSAH 83 would bridge over both the railroad and 10/169.  It's a scenario roughly similar to US 12/Hennepin CSAH 6 west of Long Lake.

[bugo]

Funding for the final 2 miles of MN 610's route (west from Hennepin County 81 to I-94) has been approved and selection of contractors along with groundbreaking will take place in Fall 2014 with a 2016 completion date.

Will part of it run in the median of Hennepin County 81?  Where will it branch off to head towards I-94?

[bugo]

I-94/US 75 in Moorhead - Planned for 2016, there are 3 alternatives being considered for reconstruction of this interchange:  a DDI, a 5-ramp par-clo, and a 6-ramp par-clo.

Is this really needed?

[froggie]

Will part of it run in the median of Hennepin County 81?  Where will it branch off to head towards I-94?

Roughly here.

I-94/US 75 in Moorhead - Planned for 2016, there are 3 alternatives being considered for reconstruction of this interchange:  a DDI, a 5-ramp par-clo, and a 6-ramp par-clo.

Is this really needed?

Yes.  There is some recurring congestion on US 75 at the interchange.

Please don't strip quote attributions. ~S

[texaskdog]

Will part of it run in the median of Hennepin County 81?  Where will it branch off to head towards I-94?

That's looking very Texas

[Mdcastle]

All three options for US 75 and I-94 have the same 2035 LOS.

Prediction- A Diverging Diamond gets built because it's cheapest.

[Mdcastle]

Motorcyclist hits pothole on I-394
Paywalled Article
http://www.startribune.com/local/minneapolis/249682451.html?page=2&c=y

Motorcyclist was going 100-120 mph on I-394 without a helmet and hit a pothole. Let us draw a curtain of charity over the rest of the scene. This was the stretch were the concrete was the finished with the older method of using a fine rake which left a regular series of grooves resulting in a high pitched whine. The pavement was in good shape but the neighbors complained about the noise, so as part of the settlement to allow I-394 to be restriped to 3 lanes, a thin overlay was put on. Since it wasn't needed for engineering reasons it was thin and thus prone to peeling away.

[agentsteel53]

the neighbors complained about the noise

the worst of NIMBYism.  the environmental impact is almost exactly the same for concrete.  in fact, it's lower, since you don't have to lay new surface as often, thus not releasing as much byproducts of the solidifying process into the air.

[Alps]

the neighbors complained about the noise

the worst of NIMBYism.  the environmental impact is almost exactly the same for concrete.  in fact, it's lower, since you don't have to lay new surface as often, thus not releasing as much byproducts of the solidifying process into the air.

False. You're not supposed to use lateral grooves in residential areas because of the noise. Noise is a very real impact, especially when you're adding a feature to a highway that doesn't already have it. Longitudinal grooves were the old way of dealing with it, and now there's diamond grinding. (In other words, you're not supposed to use a thin layer of asphalt either.) Just because people are speaking out doesn't make it NIMBYism.

[Mdcastle]

Some people were saying Mn/DOT put down noisy concrete to punish the neighborhood for their opposition to the highway- it's asphalt farther west. (The actual reason is that Mn/DOT likes to use concrete on high volume roadways, but farther west they couldn't because the soils were soft and swampy- the technique of putting concrete over a layer of asphalt in such places hadn't been developed. Nor had the newer method of making concrete less noisy by finishing it with weighted astroturf rather than a rake).

[Alps]

Some people were saying Mn/DOT put down noisy concrete to punish the neighborhood for their opposition to the highway- it's asphalt farther west. (The actual reason is that Mn/DOT likes to use concrete on high volume roadways, but farther west they couldn't because the soils were soft and swampy- the technique of putting concrete over a layer of asphalt in such places hadn't been developed. Nor had the newer method of making concrete less noisy by finishing it with weighted astroturf rather than a rake).

Again, though, longitudinal grooving, diamond finish, or anything else that doesn't leave consistently spaced horizontal grooves is quieter than consistently spaced horizontal grooves. It's more than just an issue of it being concrete. It may or may not be political, but the people have a right to complain.

[Mdcastle]

Another "popup project" that's been in the works since last year, but I haven't been aware of it. Overpass and "interchange" at Goodhue County 9. The county didn't like the idea of a reduced conflict intersection so they came up with some of their own money and got some grants. For now they're cheaping out by building what's more like right turns as opposed to ramps, but the plan is to upgrade them later as traffic increases. This is a design-build so it is going to go up rapidly and may even be done at the same time later this year as the Cannon Falls interchange.

[I94RoadRunner]

Funding for the final 2 miles of MN 610's route (west from Hennepin County 81 to I-94) has been approved and selection of contractors along with groundbreaking will take place in Fall 2014 with a 2016 completion date.

Will part of it run in the median of Hennepin County 81?  Where will it branch off to head towards I-94?

I live about 15 minutes from there, will post some photos when the project starts .....

[froggie]

Couple things of note from a short trip around the area today:

- The one traffic signal that existed in Gaylord has been removed.  The signal posts and mast arms are still inplace (for the trailblazer signs), but the signals themselves are gone, replaced by 2-way stop control on 4th St (MN 22 South).

- I noticed at least three counties (Dakota, Goodhue, and Sibley) that are a hodgepodge of pentagon shields and the white square shields for county routes…including both being used for county state aid routes.  Not sure if they're in the process of transitioning from one to another or if this is a case of it "just happened to be".

[Molandfreak]

Couple things of note from a short trip around the area today:

- The one traffic signal that existed in Gaylord has been removed.  The signal posts and mast arms are still inplace (for the trailblazer signs), but the signals themselves are gone, replaced by 2-way stop control on 4th St (MN 22 South).

- I noticed at least three counties (Dakota, Goodhue, and Sibley) that are a hodgepodge of pentagon shields and the white square shields for county routes…including both being used for county state aid routes.  Not sure if they're in the process of transitioning from one to another or if this is a case of it "just happened to be".

Dakota has selected a few major, cross-county CSAH's that use the pentagon. The rest use the square. Goodhue uses the pentagon to differentiate between CSAH and non-CSAH. I'm not sure of Sibley County's policy, though.

[froggie]

Goodhue uses the pentagon to differentiate between CSAH and non-CSAH. I'm not sure of Sibley County's policy, though.

My point was that I found examples in both Goodhue and Sibley where they were using both the pentagon and the white square for CSAH.

[Molandfreak]

Goodhue uses the pentagon to differentiate between CSAH and non-CSAH. I'm not sure of Sibley County's policy, though.

My point was that I found examples in both Goodhue and Sibley where they were using both the pentagon and the white square for CSAH.

That is odd. MN/DOT commonly goofs up and only posts the squares in Goodhue County, but I haven't seen a goof from the county itself since around 2010, when the last white square was replaced on CSAH 9 during a resurfacing project in Dennison.

[Mdcastle]

Two new interchanges to the list- US 24 and MN 111 as part of the Nicollet bypass, and US 52 / County 86 to be built in 2015. Seems like reduced conflict intersections are more alluring to the suits in the office than the people that drive them daily.

[froggie]

Lack of exposure, or at least connecting the dots.  There are numerous 3/4 intersections around, but people don't figure out that the RCI is the same concept.  Probably because we're talking about rural areas.  That said, 212/284 had an RCI put in.

Part of it might also be that the vision for 52 for over 10 years now has been to eventually convert it to a freeway.  People see RCIs proposed and poo-pooh it, whereas they see interchanges put in and see progress towards that eventual goal.

[froggie]

I edited my interchange post to update a few things including the 52/County 86 project that Monte just mentioned.

Another new project I just found:  District 4 has a plan to replace the existing MN 29/MN 55 intersection just north of Glenwood  with an overpass for MN 29, bridging over both MN 55 and the adjacent Canadian Pacific tracks.  There's no funding for it yet, but it makes a lot of sense.  Connections between 29 and 55 would be made via an improved 160th St.

[Mdcastle]

Took a trip to the south to check out some construction projects:
#US 52 RCI @ County 66th- lanes closed and barreled off, the cross roads have been constructed but not the U-turns.
#US 52 and County 86: no construction yet
#US 52 @ Cannon Falls: overpass is looking to be close to completion, paving for the new roads has not started yet, looks like the final grading is getting done. The new gravel frontage roads are in various states of completion.
#US 52 @ County 1 & 9: crossovers have been closed and lanes barreled off, no sign of the new bridge yet.
#US 52 at Zumbrota: there's still temporary looking signs for business access and barriers up in the area.
#US 63 Rochester reroute: correct signs at the roundabout and northbound on US 52 approaching the north exit- these were modified as part of the 65th street project. Reassurance shields on the old US 63 have been pulled down but the cross street signs are still intact. No other signs have been changed anywhere, even on US 63 north approaching US 52- the signs just disappear rather than direction you onto US 52.
#US 52 and 65th: project completed.
#US 52 and 55th: the sidewalk on the south side of the overpass has been demolished, no work on widening the bridge yet. Intersection of 41st and the frontage road has been retrofited with flashing yellow arrows, they had to extend the mast because the frontage road used to be permissive only.
#US 14 at Owatonna. No work yet. I honestly don't know why they're bothering if their not going to build an interchange, and the new stretch of four lane will be so short.
#I-35 at Owatonna: inner lanes barreled off, no work on the crossovers yet.
#I-35 Lakeville- 2 way traffic in northbound lanes, didn't see much else because of rain. 

[froggie]

Found this interesting photo, related to a "situation"/standoff yesterday.  Apparently, BIA also posts "Indian Routes" in Minnesota.  This photo is just off MN 1 near Redby:




Here's Google Streetview of how MnDOT signs it from westbound MN 1.

Have any of the Minnesota regulars (Monte, Moland, etc) come across signage like this?  I admit I haven't, though my MN reservation travels have been pretty limited.

[Molandfreak]

I've seen one just south of Cass Lake. I wish I would have snapped a picture.

I did find it on google maps. Looks like the route I saw is 1004.

[J N Winkler]

Quick question, inspired by some mileage signs seen in the construction plans for MnDOT SP 8809-20:  what are the "Range Cities"?