New tunnel under Hwy. 77, years in the making, is open

It's taken more than two years of digging and almost a decade of planning, but a tunnel to bring 77th Street — which runs just north of Interstate 494 — from Richfield, under Hwy. 77 and toward the airport, is finally finished.

The tunnel connects Richfield to the road ringing the airport, and city and state planners hope it will ease traffic on Interstate 494.

The $25 million tunnel was funded with state and federal grants, Metropolitan Council funding and $11 million in state bonds from two bonding bills. Richfield had to buy an old Motel 6 to make way for the tunnel.

Richfield has been tossing around the idea of the tunnel for more than 20 years. The city has hoped it would spur development on the northwest corner of the Hwy. 77-Interstate 494 interchange. But when Richfield put out a request for proposals to develop the land earlier this year, the city did not get any interest.