Totally frustrated by road construction!

[Brian Elfert]

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is trying their best to make my life miserable. There is a major road construction project just about every direction I go from my house. Luckily, my route to work bypasses 99% of the construction for now. I go to Menards at least once or twice every weekend during the summer for one thing or another. I can plan out projects and buy all the materials in advance and still run into unexpected issues or have blades or bits break. The nearest Menards now involves several miles of detours to get to/from the store. The next closet store is on a section of highway that will go to three lanes to one lane every weekend until winter. I'll have to end up going to a store that is almost a 25 mile round trip.

Construction projects wouldn't frustrate me so bad if they actually added any traffic capacity. Not a single one of these projects adds any extra traffic lanes. They are basically rebuilding one freeway from the ground up with all new bridges and pavement for a cost of hundreds of millions and three years, but there aren't adding any additional traffic lanes! That highway is a total parking lot between 7 am and 8 am. I would never consider a job in the City of St Paul unless I was truly desperate as the traffic is so bad.

[David G Baker]

The nearest shopping center is 25 miles one way from where I live. Since the gas prices have shot through the ceiling I keep my trips to a minimum. I don't have the road construction problem and if I did there are several alternate ways to get there.

[Mac McQuinn]

Brian,
When the interstate system was created in the 50's, it created a ton of jobs and changed life as we know it forever. Unfortunately nothing lasts forever and the infrastructure does needs to be rebuilt eventually. Northern State's roads seem to take a real beating due to the freeze/thaw cycle process, hopefully those monster pot holes and pavement buckles will be addressed, making your commute much smoother once the work is done. At least you can view your taxes at work.
Mac

[Steve Rozmiarek]

I was going through a bit of rural Black Hills construction the other day, everyone should see the technique the construction crews use there. Basically they tear up one lane of a road, usually in several patches strung together. No flagmen though, no lights, no workers even usually. Just a stop sign at both ends of the construction, and you are on your own on the one lane road and at the mercy of the guy at the other end. Pretty wild.

Better than the idiot stunt they pull here though, they have the flags set 5 miles apart, and work on a piece 1/4 mile long in the middle someplace. Makes it so you sit 20 mins waiting for the stupid pilot car. Nothing compared to the delays you city folk are used to, but us rural guys are not good at sitting in que.

[Myk Rian]

There is a major road construction project just about every direction I go from my house.
Be glad they're fixing the roads. I don't know of ANY projects around herei.

[Jerry Thompson]

The Florida DOT is having huge lay off. A person has invented a shovel that will stand up by itself.

[Doug W Swanson]

Brian,
I can feel your pain. MNDOT has been working on 694 in Shoreview since last summer. Now they decided to CLOSE the Hwy 10/96 intersection until November while they put in an overpass/underpass there. Since I live in Vadnais Heights, it is really a pain to go anywhere to the west of me. While both areas really needed to be upgraded it sure would have been nice if they waited until one project was done before starting the other...

[Brian Elfert]

I live right at Rice St and 694 so I have been affected by the 694 project. Next month they start on the other part of 694 which will also be a nightmare. The 35E project also starts this year, but most of the traffic impact will be in 2014 and 2015 it seems. Highway 10 will have been closed for 18 months by the time the two projects are done. MNDOT also built a left entrance for Hwy 10 merging with 694. You never, ever build a left entrance on a highway unless it is a Y type merger of two highway with lanes continuing on! They are right near the top on stupid traffic engineering ideas.

I'm really upset that MNDOT is spending two years on the 694 project and not making the project ready for 3 lanes in the future when that stretch is upgraded to 3 lanes. One of the new bridges is ready for three lanes, but the rest are not. I would rather MNDOT postpone projects by a few years so they can afford to add extra lanes rather than never adding capacity. The pavement on the rest of 694 is badly deteriorating because MNDOT had intended to start on the rebuild right about now. The rebuild has been pushed back to 2030 unless new money is found. It will need to be repaved soon if the rebuild isn't moved up. Rice St at 694 is alos full of potholes because that section would be rebuilt when the highway is rebuilt.

The Minneapolis metro area is rapidly rising on the list of cities with the worst traffic congestion. It is predicted by 2030 we will have worse traffic congestion than Los Angeles! LA is the #1 city for congestion right now.

[Matt Meiser]

Be glad they're fixing the roads. I don't know of ANY projects around herei.

Come down here. There's a big project on 23 by the state line and another on Telegraph on the north side of Monroe. Out township is even doing several miles of roads this year.

[Brian Elfert]

I apologize for bringing up local road work issues. The way MNDOT does road work just infuriates me. Yes, I have attended various open houses to express my opinions, but by the time the open houses start the projects are usually set in stone.

I am wrong about MNDOT building a left entrance for the 694 project. The temporary traffic routing makes it look like the entrance will be a left entrance, but it won't be in the end.

[Brian Elfert]

Brian,
I can feel your pain. MNDOT has been working on 694 in Shoreview since last summer. Now they decided to CLOSE the Hwy 10/96 intersection until November while they put in an overpass/underpass there. Since I live in Vadnais Heights, it is really a pain to go anywhere to the west of me. While both areas really needed to be upgraded it sure would have been nice if they waited until one project was done before starting the other...

Personally, I like that they are doing both projects at once. Doing it next year would have meant extending our road construction pain out another year. Highway 10 is already closed for the 694 work and it would have been a pain if it was closed all next summer too. One direction of highway 10 will have been closed for at least 18 months when it finally reopens in November.

MNDOT originally planned to the do 96/10 last year, but it was postponed for a year since the major detour route was closed for the 694 project.

[Bonnie Campbell]

Road work beats having traffic messed up for three years while a bridge gets painted.