St. Paul, MN (KROC-AM News) The Minnesota Department of Transportation marked the official start of the highway construction season at a kick-off event in St. Paul. Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle announced the agency has scheduled 211 road and bridge projects costing approximately $1 billion this year.

“While this year’s program is comparable in dollar value to last year’s, we are seeing fewer projects. And, in the coming years, we will also see the funding that is available to invest will decrease because of inflation and
flattening revenue streams,” Zelle said.

22 of the projects involve roads and bridges in southeastern Minnesota, including multiple projects along the Highway 52 corridor between Rochester and the Twin Cities. Those projects include a $7.3 million dollar repaving of the northbound lanes of Highway 52 from just north of Rochester to Cannon Falls. MNDOT will also be replacing two bridges on the Highway in Cannon Falls at a cost of almost $5 million, along with the $6 million replacement of the Highway 58 bridge over Highway 52 and other improvements to the interchange. Additional projects are also scheduled in the Highway 52 corridor north of Cannon Falls, including the replacement of the County Road 42 overpass in Rosemount. Bridge replacement projects are also planned along I-35 south of Owatonna.

Motorists are being reminded the projects will result in lane closures and traffic delays, particularly during peak travel times, and they will need to exercise extreme caution while driving through work zones throughout the highway construction season, which will wrap up in November.

Visit the MNDOT website for more information about MNDOT’s 2017 construction schedule.

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