St. Michael-Albertville commuters will be “in the thick of it” from both sides this year, as a road construction project on Interstate 94 in Monticello commencing next month is slated to tie up traffic to the west for much of the season.
That’s on top of the Interstate 94 expansion to the east of town, which will impact traffic as soon as July 1.
An overview of the I-94 construction project in Monticello, which will tie up traffic for much of this year’s construction season. (MnDOT graphic)
The Minnesota Department of Transportation District 3 (based in Brainderd) will be hosting an open house on the I-94 rehabilitation project between County Road 18 and Highway 25 in Monticello Monday, March 3 at the Montociello Community Center.
The project, which MnDOT hopes to begin in April, will construct an auxiliary lane on westbound 94 for traffic exiting at Minnesota Highway 25, similar to the current auxiliary lane at Rogers’ Highway 101 exit.
The sticky issue for motorists, however, will be the reconstruction of both the pavement on I-94 between the two Monticello exits, as well as work on all four Highway 25 access ramps and the westbound exit ramp at County Road 18. The work will cut down the two lanes on each side to minimum width, and a detour for westbound traffic wishing to exit into Monticello will be posted for 30 days at the Hasty interchange due to dual ramp closures for about one month during the project.
According to MnDOT, the $17.2 million job will:
- Reconstruct westbound and eastbound I-94
- Reconstruct ramps and upgrade traffic signals at CR 18 and Hwy 25
- Add an auxiliary lane to westbound I-94 between CR 18 and Hwy 25
- Add separate acceleration lane from Hwy 25 ramp onto eastbound I-94
- Build a noise wall on the north side of I-94 near Fallon Ave
Cabin commuters and others who “head west” on a regular basis via the freeway can sign-up for I-94 Monticello project email updates through MnDOT to track progress on the project.
A complete overview of the construction project can be downloaded via the MnDOT website.