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Contact: Colin Cox, Transportation, 612-596-7426
During 2015, the county worked on several road reconstruction and rehabilitation projects, as well as repaving projects, bridges, improvements for bicyclists and pedestrians and traffic signal system upgrades. We thank county residents for their patience during the construction
season and for being safe around work zones and crew members.
As
the year comes to a close, transportation staff are set to put longer-term
projects on hiatus until spring 2016. Roads through construction areas will be maintained
throughout the winter by county snow and ice removal teams. These projects include:
- Casting more than 300 deck panels for the Franklin Avenue (County Road 5) bridge in Minneapolis,
as well as repairing arches, piers and columns under the deck. Crews may
continue work on the bridge through winter as weather allows.
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Opening Lake
Drive (County Road 9) between Bottineau Boulevard and France Avenue in
Robbinsdale.
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Completing the first half of the Minnehaha Avenue (County Road 48)
reconstruction project in Minneapolis, which includes utility upgrades, new
bike lanes and improved intersections.
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Opening Shady Oak Road (County Road 61) realignment
with Highway 7 in Hopkins.
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Completing major work on County
Road 101 from Hutchins Drive to Mahoney Avenue in Minnetonka, including the
completion of the intersection at Old Excelsior Boulevard.
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Providing a seasonal opening of Bushaway Road (County Road
101) between Minnetonka Boulevard and downtown Wayzata. Crews may
continue work in the rail corridor north of Eastman/McGinty roads as weather
allows.
In addition to major construction projects, the county has completed
dozens of other maintenance and system-upgrade projects. Accomplishments include:
- More
than 140 lane miles of roads repaved in 27 locations across the county to
provide a smoother ride for drivers.
- Forty-five traffic signals converted from incandescent bulbs to light emitting diodes (LEDs)
as part of a county-wide effort to upgrade traffic signals. LED signals
offer significant cost savings for operations and maintenance/replacement.
- Seventy-three traffic signals synchronized to improve efficiency of travel through targeted
corridors.
- Video detection installed for traffic signals at 28 intersections. Video detection
is more sensitive to triggering signal changes for motorcycles and bikes;
it is also more reliable overall than other detection methods and provides
flexibility during construction.
- More than 1,500 completed service requests from residents regarding potholes,
burnt-out traffic signal lights and other issues.
Stay informed
Use the interactive transportation map to get real-time
information about major active projects, maintenance efforts that may impact
traffic and emergency incidents like floods.
Subscribe
to email or text message notifications about the county transportation
network. Choose notifications for all roads, one particular road or all county
roads within a particular city.
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Look for more news on
the Hennepin County website at www.hennepin.us/news.
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