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Rep. Dan Schoen - E-Update - Sept. 20, 2013

Friday, September 20, 2013

Friends,

 

If you’re noticing longer-than-usual backups on Highway 61 lately, you’re not alone. I’ve heard many of your complaints and did some investigating. Here’s what I found out from the Minnesota Department of Transportation:

 

There are several construction projects affecting our area. The recent closure of Highway 36 has pushed more traffic to Interstate 94, which can shift the traffic on the southern edge of that trip to head south onto I-494.

 

Highway 36 is now open to two lanes in each direction. MnDOT is finishing up median work at Keller Lake and should be out of there soon.

 

There have been some closures of ramps on Interstate 94, such as the ramp from White Bear Ave. to Interstate 94 West, which pushes traffic over to Highway 61. Work there is winding down. Work on the entrance ramp from Maxwell Ave to I-494 West is also nearly complete.

 

Ongoing construction on the Lafayette Bridge is probably also causing more people to use Highway 61.
 

I’ve been told that the Regional Transportation Management Center could not find any specific circumstances within the last few weeks that would be the cause of these backups. It appears to be more about recurring congestion than congestion being caused by incidents. And since school is in session again, traffic always picks up this time of the year.

 

MnDOT says it appears that recent congestion is due more to an accumulation of effects rather than one thing. Hopefully as the construction season winds down and many of these projects are completed, traffic will return to more normal levels.

 

MnDOT uses both Twitter (@mndottraffic) and Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/mndot) to communicate construction and traffic information, and you can sign up for email updates on specific projects at http://www.dot.state.mn.us/roadwork/current.html or http://www.511mn.org/.

 
Sincerely,
 
Dan