Cold halts Hwy. 36 roadwork, but construction on St. Croix River bridge continues

It was a race to the finish — and the polar cold won.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) had wanted to finish reconstruction of Hwy. 36 between Oak Park Heights and Stillwater before winter weather arrived, but the work fell just short of expectations.

"Contractor crews were anticipating working right up to Dec. 1, but we received an early November snowstorm followed by consistent [low] temperatures," said Jessica Wiens, a spokeswoman for the bridge project. "A lot of folks thought it was the snowstorm that paused everything — and it did for a day or two, when it was snowing — but the real issue has been consistent below-freezing temperatures. It's tough to pave in temperatures that are this cold."

The extensive rebuilding of Hwy. 36 includes both frontage roads and two major intersections as part of the St. Croix River bridge project. The major work will be completed west of Osgood Avenue by the end of November, when all four lanes open to traffic.

But a "substantially complete" designation planned for this year won't be achieved until spring or early summer after portions of the new roads get their final layers of asphalt. Those layers, which MnDOT calls "lifts," are needed around the Greeley and Osgood intersections and parts of the south frontage road, Wiens said.

The four lanes of Hwy. 36 all have their final layers, she said.

Other delays include minor utility work and some concrete curbs and driveways along the south frontage road, she said. That work will be completed even as a planned spring activity — landscape crews planting trees, shrubs and grass — is being done.

"We wished that we could have wrapped up, and we were confident that had the cold weather stayed away a little longer, we could have gotten there," Wiens said. "We just got caught up in this early November freeze."

The delays won't cost taxpayers extra money because contracts cover the entire job, she said.

East of Osgood Avenue toward the bridge site, westbound lanes of Hwy. 36 will remain unbuilt throughout the winter. That's because they will connect with new ramp at the Hwy. 95 intersection that won't be completed until next fall.

Todd Streeter, of the Greater Stillwater Chamber of Commerce, said he hasn't heard any complaints from business owners about delayed work.

"I know the weather caught everybody by surprise," he said. "It's almost getting close to business as usual. Unless there's massive thawing, I'm not sure what MnDOT could do."

Bridge work continues

Even as work on approach highways ends for the winter — including on the Wisconsin side of the St. Croix River — work on the bridge superstructure will continue.

Open water around the piers will create dangerous conditions for anglers and snowmobilers who come too close, Wiens said. A tugboat will continuously break ice to make way for barges carrying heavy construction equipment.

Operations at the project's two casting yards — where multi-ton pieces of bridge superstructure are made — also will continue through winter.

On the Wisconsin side, pile driving of an on-land abutment will begin early in December and will continue through the winter.

Further information, including maps and videos, can be found at www.mndot.gov/st.croixcrossing.

Kevin Giles • 651-925-5037