For the second time since 2007, a segment of Hwy. 36 will be totally closed for several weeks next summer to help speed along work on a major construction project.
Two projects about 3 miles apart will replace signaled intersections with interchanges at English Street in Maplewood and Hilton Trail in Pine Springs. They are part of an ongoing effort by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) to transform most of Hwy. 36 -- originally built during the 1930s and a key commuter route -- into a freeway design, said Wayne Norris, the agency's north area district manager.
"One of the goals for Hwy. 36, essentially from Interstate 35W to Interstate 694, is to eliminate all at-grade signalized intersections," Norris said.
Officials hope eliminating the signal lights will make traffic flow better and improve intersection safety. Crash data at English Street and Hwy. 36 show more accidents than average: 147 at the intersection over a three-year period.
During construction of the English Street project's second phase, likely to begin in late June, the highway will be completely shut down for two months, he said. Though the 50,000 or so drivers who pass that way each day will have to detour, a similar closure of Hwy. 36 in 2007 for five months in North St. Paul saved money and was completed sooner.
"Before that closure in North St. Paul, the first perception from those who were most affected was that they didn't favor that approach," Norris said. But with the move saving about a year of construction time, on top of $2 million in costs, critics turned supportive.
Maplewood, which has taken the lead in planning and securing financing for the interchange project, has been preparing for the disruption for several years, said City Manager Jim Antonen.
"It certainly is the lesser of two evils," Antonen said of the closure, but after many community meetings with residents and businesses, the consensus was to take the disruption in one lump "instead of something akin to being nibbled to death by bullheads."
