Here's why MnDOT took away a lane on Hwy. 62 in Edina

A few years ago, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) put in a third lane on a short segment of westbound Crosstown 62 in Edina to relieve congestion brought on by extra traffic using the highway while Interstate 35W was under construction.

MnDOT converted the right shoulder between Valley View Road and Hwy. 100 into a travel lane and marked it as "Exit Only," meaning it was dedicated for motorists exiting from the Crosstown onto northbound Hwy. 100. Drivers like Courtney loved it.

"It was heaven," she said in an e-mail to the Drive.

About a month ago, MnDOT took out the lane, and the Crosstown was back to its original configuration with just two lanes between Valley View and Hwy. 100.

"Why did MnDOT taunt us so?" Courtney asked.

The Drive heard from several other readers who disapproved of the move and noted traffic flow has deteriorated since the "Exit Only" lane disappeared.

"It's a traffic mess as cars are trying to merge onto westbound 62, and others are trying to get into the same lane to exit to northbound 100," Drive reader Grant observed.

Andrew asked if MnDOT might reconsider and bring back the third lane.

Unfortunately that is not in the cards, said MnDOT spokesman David Aeikens.

"The shoulders are not built to handle traffic long term," he said, noting asphalt on the shoulder is laid much thinner than the pavement in regular traffic lanes and is not strong enough to become a permanent lane.

Another reason the shoulder won't become a permanent traffic lane is MnDOT would have to do an environmental study to learn the impact it would have, Aeikens said.

The same thing occurred along westbound I-394 between downtown Minneapolis and Hwy. 100, where MnDOT converted a shoulder into a fourth lane when the ramps from eastbound I-94 to southbound I-35W and northbound I-35W to westbound I-94 were closed during construction. The agency added the extra lane to accommodate thousands of motorists detoured onto westbound I-394 during the closures.

When both ramps opened in September, and construction on I-35W ended, MnDOT returned I-394 to its original three-lane configuration.

Commuters on eastbound I-94 lost a critical entry point into downtown Minneapolis in midsummer when the ramp to 4th Street closed and drivers were directed to the 7th Street ramp. At the time, MnDOT said it would be closed for up to 40 days.

As summer rolled into fall, the ramp carrying up to 18,000 vehicles a day, according to 2019 traffic counts, remains closed and could be for another month.

MnDOT is resurfacing the bridge and repairing joints and ran into "some material delays," Aeikens said.

"We finally got the part [for the bridge joint] we needed in September," he said.

Crews also found an old bridge beam that had deteriorated and needed work, so MnDOT is fixing that, too, he said.

On top of that, the ramp closed for most of the summer for an Xcel Energy project, Aeikens said.

"We want that ramp open as much as anyone," he said. "Unfortunately, it has not worked out that way. We will get that ramp open as soon as we can."

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