Add Buffalo to the list of areas that will be difficult to navigate this summer, as the Minnesota Department of Transportation unveiled $1.1 billion worth of state road projects this week.
Monticello and the Rogers/St. Michael area will already be sore spots for travelers and commuters this summer. MnDOT announced earlier this year that Interstate 94 will be expanded to three lanes for the nearly 3-mile stretch between Highways 101 and 241, and a resurfacing project will tear up another two miles to the west in Monticello.
Now, the intersections of Highway 25 and 55, yet another one of the busiest stretches of road in Wright County, will also be moved into the 2014 construction season, with work to the north of Highway 55 set to begin in June.
The project will last through the fall and into November, with resurfacing, new lanes and a roundabout added at the intersection of Highway 25 and Settlers Parkway as the road is re-aligned.
The cost of the project is estimated at more than $4 million. The state announced this week it would cover about $2.9 million of the bill.
MnDOT’s $1.1 billion 2014 construction program of 308 projects includes work on 74 projects in the Twin Cities and 194 projects in Greater Minnesota. An additional 40 projects statewide will improve safety at railroad crossings, and make improvements on runways and terminals at regional airports. The work includes projects funded by the Corridors of Commerce program, a bonding effort aimed at improving roadways for freight travel.
“This program will provide vital upgrades to our transportation system,” said MnDOT Commissioner Charlie Zelle. “The Corridors of Commerce projects will ensure that roadways vital to business use will get needed improvements.”
Zelle compared the scope of the project to “building a Vikings Stadium in a single construction season.”