North/East metro briefs, April 3

Two years of road work ahead on Interstate 94

A two-year road project tackling problems with Interstate 94 between St. Paul and Woodbury is being launched this spring.

And state officials are gearing up with a website and other means of informing drivers on what they will find. The Minnesota Department of Transportation is cautioning motorists to "expect lane closures and delays."

The affected roadway stretches along the freeway between E. 7th Street in St. Paul and Hwy. 120/Century Avenue in Woodbury. Work on the project will last until the fall of 2017.

Crews will resurface both eastbound and westbound lanes, add or extend existing auxiliary lanes, repair bridges, add emergency pull-off sites and trail connections, upgrade signals and pedestrian access and add or repair some noise walls.

They also will resurface Hwy. 61 from north of Burns Avenue to Hwy. 5 in St. Paul.

Drivers can sign up for e-mail alerts and other forms of digital updates at the project's website: mndot.gov/metro/projects/i94stpaul/.

Commissioner Fran Miron, once Hugo's longtime mayor, will serve as chairman the Washington County Board to fill a vacancy created when Commissioner Ted Bearth died March 10.

Miron was elected to the board in 2012. He will continue as chairman through 2016, with Commissioner Lisa Weik serving as vice chairwoman.

Bearth was selected by his colleagues in January as chairman of the five-member board, but missed most of the subsequent meetings because of his illness. His Second District seat will be filled in a special election in November.

Miron, who represents the northern end of Washington County, was Hugo's mayor for 16 years before he was elected to the County Board. His family runs the Miron Family Dairy and Crop Farm in rural Hugo.

Kevin Giles

The river peaked about 5 feet below minor flood stage on March 21 and has continued to fall since, according to measurements taken by the National Weather Service. Only sustained periods of heavy rain could reverse that trend, since ice is off the river and there is little snow left in the watershed.

Flooding in past years has led to extensive sandbagging and berm-building in cities along the St. Croix. On the west side of the county, cities such as Newport and Cottage Grove fought flooding from the Mississippi River as recently as 2014.

Kevin Giles

Ramsey County

Ramsey County will carry out controlled burns on prairies and woods in county parks through June.

Dates and times depend on the weather, but officials promise when possible to alert nearby residents using the parks website, ramseycounty.us/parks/; Twitter @RamseyCtyParks; or Facebook.

David Peterson

Ramsey County has closed a portion of the Rice Creek North Regional Trail for construction work that will last through August.

The affected stretch is between County Road H, Mounds View, and Long Lake Regional Park in New Brighton.

Crews will extend the length of the trail and provide pedestrian bridges.

Roseville officials are asking residents to call or send them an online message when potholes appear to be under the stress of spring weather.

Crews make fixes "in order of priority," installing temporary patches and then deciding on more permanent repairs depending on the size of the hole, how many are nearby, and the amount of traffic on the street.

Residents may contact officials at www.cityofroseville.com/fixitform/, or 651-792-7004. Officials with Ramsey County, which is responsible for county roads, can be reached at 651-266-7100.