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The milling, reclaiming and paving train has left the station on Highway 34! If you have a destination within the work zone, please plan your travel time accordingly—you could encounter three separate areas of pilot cars and flaggers, with delays up to 15-20 minutes at each flagging operation. If you can take an alternate route or the detour, it is advised that you do so.
Between reclaiming, paving and the box culvert replacement, there's a lot happening within the work zone right now! Please drive with extreme caution, obey flaggers and wait patiently for pilot cars. If you are accessing Highway 34 from a side street, please remember to wait for a pilot car before entering to ensure you do not meet head-to-head traffic on one-lane roads or drive over hot asphalt. Your cooperation is important and appreciated.
Thru-traffic: If you don't have a destination on Highway 34, take the detour route on County Road 47, Highway 87 and County Road 29.
On the east end of the project, the box culvert/bridge replacement at the Shell River, just west of Osage, is underway. Crews are getting the water diversion in place and completing other site prep. When the box culvert arrives, it will take 26 loads to get all the pieces to the site! That's a BIG box culvert.
A reminder that Highway 34 is impassable at the Shell River for the next five weeks. Local traffic cannot enter the work zone from the east, so you'll need to take an alternate route to your destination or take the detour.
Milling, reclaiming and paving started this week, too. Crews began at the contractor's pit located near Toad Lake, with the operations working west. Milling and reclaiming are moving at a good pace down the road, and paving is following. As long as everything goes as planned, they expect paving operations to cover several miles in both directions each day.
All three operations together, including traffic control areas, span an approximately 8-mile stretch of Highway 34. Please watch for bumps, loose gravel, uneven surfaces, and trucks hauling.
Plan ahead and give yourself plenty of time to get through the work zone if you must travel on Highway 34. Always obey the flaggers and pilot cars.
Work zone snapshot
- Shell River, west of Osage: Hard closure for box culvert/bridge replacement (lasting five weeks)
- Toad Lake to County Road 29: Significant delays during reclaiming and paving, daily lane closures and flaggers/pilot cars.
All schedules and work plans are subject to change at any time based on weather, contractor schedules or other unforeseen circumstances or issues. The overall project is expected to be completed by mid-October.
For more information about the project, visit the project website.
For real-time traffic and travel information in Minnesota, visit www.511mn.org or get the free smartphone app at Google Play or the App Store.
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