Drivers on Hwy. 65 in the north metro, brace yourself for more traffic tie-ups.
MnDOT starts work on bottlenecked Hwy. 65 in north metro
Motorists can expect detours and lane closures through mid-November.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
April 8, 2024 at 3:13PM
On Monday night, MnDOT will begin work on a 19-mile stretch of the already bottlenecked highway through Spring Lake Park, Blaine, Ham Lake and East Bethel, starting with lane closures in each direction between 85th and 105th avenues NE. from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. for the next three nights.
By the end of the month, work on resurfacing the heavily traveled highway will get underway between County Road 10 and 237th Avenue NE. Drivers will be shifted to one side of the road with one lane of head-to-head traffic each direction, on the side of the road not under construction, said spokesman Kent Barnard.
The work includes replacing bridges with culverts at Coon Creek, just south of Viking Boulevard and north of Constance Boulevard. The $40 million project also includes the installation of new cable median barriers between Bunker Lake Boulevard and 237th Avenue, curb, ramp and sidewalk improvements at several intersections and the replacement of traffic signal systems at 85th and 93rd avenues.
As the project moves along, motorists in both directions will be directed to detours during four weekend closures. Those dates have not yet been announced.
In June, drivers will face a month-long closure on Hwy. 65 between Viking and Constance boulevards, and for 10 days drivers won’t be able to access Hwy. 65 from 93rd Avenue NE., Barnard said.
The work, scheduled to last through mid-November, is separate from another project slated to begin next year: Blaine, Anoka County and MnDOT will upgrade Hwy. 65 through Blaine, a project expected to take two years to complete.
Dubbed “Thrive on 65,” the $195 million project includes removing stoplights at four interchanges between 97th and 119th avenues and replacing them with underpasses or overpasses with on- and off-ramps with roundabouts. Some access points that don’t currently have stoplights will be closed and new frontage roads will be built to connect motorists with the new interchanges.
When completed in 2028, that portion of the highway will operate like an expressway, officials said.
According to MnDOT traffic counts, more than 54,000 vehicles a day use Hwy. 65 on the south end of the construction area, dropping to about 21,000 on the north end.
Walz will campaign in Wisconsin and Michigan on Monday before heading to Pennsylvania.
