Shooting Star Trail secures $450K grant for gravel trail to Rose Creek

Area road construction will get underway soon — that is if the rain ever stops.

“It’s just been cold and rainy,” County Engineer Mike Hanson said.

Hanson said some county road work could begin Monday, May 2, if the weather cooperates.

City Engineer Jon Erichson said the first road closure for city street improvements will begin Monday. The intersection of Main St. and Oakland Ave. will close Monday and remain closed for a month while utility work is completed and a new traffic signal is installed.

Spring road restrictions, which keep trucks over a certain weight from driving on some roads, are lifted Monday, which is why much of the city’s road work will begin then or soon after.

Erichson said the less-than-ideal spring weather has not affected road construction plans.

Signs of construction are already visible along County Road 45 and Fourth Avenue through Mapleview, as road signs and cones are ready for the season. Work could begin next week on the project to finish re-surfacing the road up to Highway 218.

The county will also work on the Shooting Star Trail from Adams to Rose Creek, thanks to a $450,000 grant from the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. The work will only install a gravel surface.

Area road improvement projects

Austin
14th Ave. NE from 4th St. to 8th St.
Total cost: $700,000.

North Main St. from Oakland Ave. to 2nd Ave. and from 4th Ave. to 1st Drive.
Total cost: $475,000.

7th St. SW from 1st Ave. to 4th Ave.
Total cost: $225,000.

10th Ave. SW from 4th St. to 12th St.
Total cost: $475,000.

7th Ave. SE from 4th St. to 9th St., 6th St. SE from 6th Ave. to 8th Ave. and 8th St. SE from 6th Ave. to 8th Ave.
Total cost: $575,000.

13th Ave. SE from 4th St. to 5th St., 5th St. SE from 13th Ave. to 15th Ave. and 15th Ave. SE from 5th St. to 6th St.
Total cost: $275,000.

14th Ave. SE from 8th St. to the railroad.
Total cost: $50,000.

County
County Road 45: Completion of new road from Dolan’s Landscape Center to Highway 218.

County Road 2: Grading work west of former Lansing Corners. Road will remain gravel until 2012.

County Road 12: Resurface work from Highway 56 to Iowa border.

Shooting Star Trail: Gravel paving from Adams to Rose Creek.

Bridge replacements: Austin, Sargeant Township, Nevada Township, LeRoy Township.

State
Highway 218: Resurface work on Hwy 218 from Austin to Iowa border. Cost: $3.5 million.

Interstate 90: Resurface 13 miles on I-90’s westbound lanes from Highway 63 to Olmsted County County Road 19. Cost: $3 million.

Traffic Effects: Flaggers and daily lane closures. Westbound ramps at Highway 63 will be closed with a short-term detour.

Interstate 35: Install Intelligent Transportation Systems that include cameras and changeable message signs at various locations along I-35 in Freeborn, Rice and Steele Counties. Cost: $1.1 million.

Interstate 35: Clearing trees along I-35 in Freeborn, Rice and Steele counties. Dates: April – October 2011. Cost: 97,279.

Interstate 35: Install lighting tower at I-90/I-35 interchange. Cost: $410,620

Highway 63: Revise traffic safety signals in Stewartville. Cost: $472,679