Massive Road Construction Project In Minnesota Is Finally Done

Get our free mobile app

It's a heavily used highway in Minnesota but there's good news, as a massive multi-year road construction project is finally finished.

As we've all heard, there are really only two distinct seasons in Minnesota: Winter and road construction, right? Well, this busy highway in the Land of 10,000 Lakes proves that saying, because over the past several years, it has boasted a whopping four different construction zones that restricted traffic to a single lane in each direction-- all in the span of just over 60 miles.

I know that road construction is something that's needed, seeing as I'm often one of the first people to complain when I drive on a road or highway that's rough and full of potholes. But that didn't make driving on this busy Minnesota highway any less frustrating at times. But one of those massive projects is finally officially wrapped up.

READ MORE: Only 8 People Live in the Tiniest Town in Minnesota

I'm talking about Highway 52. Technically, its official name is U.S. 52 or U.S. Route 52, and in addition to its path between the Twin Cities and Rochester here in Minnesota, it spans over 2,000 miles between its northern endpoint in Portal, North Dakota at the Canadian border, and its southeastern endpoint in Charleston, South Carolina.

According to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT), construction crews wrapped up final work on the Highway 52 Zumbrota to Cannon Falls reconstruction project. Work began in July of 2021 and spanned two more years, wrapping up on November 15th, 2023.

Reconstructed 13.5 miles of southbound lanes from just north of Zumbrota to just south of Cannon Falls
Built a new Highway 52 interchange at Highway 57/Goodhue County Road 8
Built new bridges to replace existing structures at Highway 52 over Highway 60 east, south of Zumbrota; at Highway 60 west over Highway 52 at Zumbrota; and on Highway 52 southbound over the Zumbro River north of Zumbrota
Constructed a noise wall at Zumbrota
Established new snow fence in areas between Goodhue County Road 1 and Goodhue County Road 50
Built seven J-turns
Closed 20 access points and built connecting frontage roads to improve safety
Constructed a park-and-ride lot for Goodhue County at Goodhue County Road 8 at the new interchange

Listen to Curt St. John in the Morning
Weekdays from 6 to 10 a.m. on Quick Country 96.5