Drivers are cheering the ride on Hwy. 312

When Amber Larson and her sister Tracy looked for an alternate route to visit their parents in Chaska last month, they found themselves stuck behind a slow-moving state public works truck.

Suddenly the driver stopped, hopped out and approached their car to tell them they were going to be the first vehicle to use the new section of Hwy. 312 between Chanhassen and Chaska.

"It wasn't planned," said Larson, a clinic manager in Eagan. "It was just a fortunate coincidence. We actually cheered when we drove on it."

Larson isn't the only driver cheering.

Since Dec. 7, when the newest stretch of highway opened, thousands of commuters have welcomed the time it has saved them and the anticipated long-term benefits it could bring to homeowners and cities in the southwest-metro area.

"The opening of the new Hwy. 312 has been a significant blessing to me and my family," said Jeff Mueller, who for years has commuted from Carver to White Bear Lake in the far northern reaches of Ramsey County.

Mueller was often in a bad mood because of the traffic, the delays and the amount of time he was spending on the road -- as much as 1½ to 2 hours a day.

He has saved about 20 minutes on his daily trip.

"It has had a great effect on me psychologically," said Mueller, who is now able to get home in time for his 4-year-old daughter's dance lessons. "My wife has noticed the change. She's said to me, 'You're coming home much happier now.'"

Commuters aren't the only ones who are happy. Suburban communities along the route, including Chaska, Victoria and Waconia, expect to see businesses and populations grow thanks to the easier commuting.

"We've already seen that," said Chaska Mayor Gary Van Eyll. "I think everyone's been pleasantly surprised by the opening of Hwy. 312. It's put us much closer to the metro area. We want to be there when a business says, 'Where should we move?' Why not Chaska? We've got great access."

Homeowners also say they expect to benefit through a corresponding increase in their property values. That is the anticipation of Nick Jude, a Chaska resident who works in Chanhassen.

Long-term planning

The 12-mile, $238 million highway project -- scheduled to be completed in the summer when the last phase opens between Chaska and Carver -- had been planned since the 1950s. Larson said the project was on the drawing board so long that people in Chaska and other cities wondered whether it was ever going to open.

"I can remember it being talked about as I was learning to drive in my teenage years," Larson said. "I live in Minneapolis, and I'm visiting my family more now that I know I can get out there faster." The trip, which used to take up to 45 minutes, now requires only about 30 minutes.

The first stage of the project, from Interstate 494 to Eden Prairie Road in Eden Prairie, got underway in 1998 and opened in 2001. Although the next stage of work stalled because of funding shortages, Gov. Tim Pawlenty in 2003 gained approval of a $900 million transportation package, including accelerating the work on 312, which had been scheduled to start in 2013.

As a result, at the end of 2006 the highway was extended to Dell Road. And at the end of 2007, that was extended several more miles to Hwy. 41 in Chaska.

"It used to take me 40 to 45 minutes," Brink said of his commute. "Now it takes me under 30 minutes, doorstep to doorstep."

More than just time

Most people, however, say the new road has an even greater impact on their daily lives than merely saving time.

Van Eyll, who lives in Chaska and works in Bloomington, said he and many other drivers have found their quality of life seems to have gotten better.

People are less stressed out thanks to the reduction in their commuting times and the fact that they now can avoid a lot of stoplights. As a result, commuters are able to spend more time with their families.

Doug Johnson, a Chaska resident who is the controller at a restoration company in St. Paul, can attest to that. He used to leave his house by 6:45 a.m. to get to work by 8.

Normally, that did not allow him to take his daughter Alexis, an eighth-grader in Chaska, to her bus stop at 6:45 a.m.

"I now enjoy giving her a warm car ride to wait for the bus and still get to work," Johnson said. "I have 10 minutes with my daughter to catch up and ask her about her day.

"That is a positive thing."