More than 700 crashes in two years of work on stretch of I-94

Motorists in the northwest metro have endured two years of construction on Interstate 94 between Maple Grove and Rogers, and the end is in sight.

In recent weeks, the Minnesota Department of Transportation has removed concrete barriers separating an express lane on westbound I-94 that didn't allow drivers to exit the freeway between Weaver Lake Road and Hwy. 241 from other lanes that allowed them to get on and off. Traffic on both eastbound and westbound I-94 now have three regular traffic lanes in each direction, and soon a fourth lane between Hwys. 610 and 101.

"No more chutes and shifts," said MnDOT spokesman David Aeikens.

In the coming weeks, the contractor handling the project is expected to finish putting down lane striping and have traffic flowing on all four lanes from the I-494/694/94 interchange to Hwy. 101. Drivers might encounter intermittent lane closures during off-peak times through mid-November, MnDOT said.

The area is still classified as a work zone, and the speed limit remains 60 mph until the end of the month.

Drive reader Dianna and her husband frequently use the freeway while commuting between Maple Grove and Otsego. She said most motorists ignore the speed limit. That was especially true over the summer and fall when construction was in full swing and cones, barrels and lane shifts made driving difficult.

That made for some stressful trips, she said in an e-mail. She asked if police ever ticketed offending motorists.

Troopers are not specifically assigned to patrol construction areas only but will respond to citizen complaints or reports of dangerous driving behavior and monitor those stretches of roadway more closely, said Lt. Gordon Shank of the State Patrol.

"Speeding through a work zone is reckless and dangerous," he said. "Work zone environments give drivers little room for error and exceeding the speed limit can result in grave consequences."

MnDOT data show there have been 706 crashes on the 11-mile stretch since the project began in 2019. There has been one fatal crash and three resulting in a serious injury.

Minnesota law states that a person convicted of operating a motor vehicle in violation of a speed limit in a work zone shall be required to pay a $300 fine. Court data does not break it down by road segment, but from 2016 to 2020, nearly 2,250 drivers were ticketed in Minnesota for speeding in work zones and slapped with the fine.

"To avoid crashes in work zones and to protect yourself, other motorists and those who work on our roads, please slow down, drive distraction-free and never drive impaired," Shank said.