Traffic relief en route for south-metro 35W

Construction in the Interstate 35W-Hwy. 62 commons will soon spill over into the southern suburbs as the state pursues plans to ease congestion from south of the Minnesota River to downtown Minneapolis.

Preliminary work is already starting along the corridor, and by this time next year, 35W will have faster buses, more transit stations and a mix of new lanes -- including a toll lane like the one on Interstate 394 -- that will reshape commuting in the south metro area.

"Basically every inch of the pavement on 35W will be improved, fixed or changed between Burnsville and Minneapolis," said Nick Thompson, project manager for the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).

Officials say the work will be done by the end of 2009, except for the troublesome 4-mile Hwy. 62 commons, where work is to be finished by fall 2010.

The plans also will bring changes to Hwy. 77 in the southern suburbs and 35W in Minneapolis as transportation officials capitalize on $133 million in grant funding, matched by $50 million from the state, that is putting the slate of projects, which might otherwise have taken years, on the fast track.

Traffic hits bottlenecks on 35W around the Minnesota River and slows dramatically for two to three hours a day, but the project will offer relief by adding a fourth southbound lane across the Minnesota River by reconfiguring shoulders and narrowing lanes.

The electronic toll-paying program, called MnPass, has been used on Interstate 394 from downtown to Wayzata since 2005. Solo drivers will be able to pay so they can drive in the new toll lanes, which will take up what are now open carpool lanes in some areas and the left shoulder in other stretches. Carpoolers will be able to use the lanes at no charge.

Expect construction from Burnsville Parkway to downtown Minneapolis early next year, including the $300 million Crosstown project, which began in late 2006.

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Urban Partnership Agreement (UPA) program had invited cities to apply with innovative projects for a total of $1.1 billion in grant money to be spent over two years. The 35W Solutions Alliance, a coalition of local leaders, had a list of ideas ready but lacked the money to pay for them; it quickly put together a proposal that brought home the funding.

"It was a godsend where suddenly we got $133 million from the federal government," said Dan Gustafson, a Burnsville City Council member who serves on the alliance.

Gustafson said the UPA money "kick-starts" projects that the Alliance wanted, from Lakeville to Anoka County. The projects, involving nine cities from Lakeville to Blaine, will include:

• The new high-occupancy MnPass express lanes from Burnsville Parkway to Downtown Minneapolis for northbound drivers, and in the southbound lane from 42nd Street to Hwy. 13. Signs will tell drivers when this lane is open and closed, and the cost at any particular time.

•Lane guidance technology with GPS and radar so that buses can travel 35 miles per hour on shoulders.

•Reconstruction of 2nd and Marquette Avenues in Minneapolis to expand the transit lane to two lanes on each avenue and reduce downtown travel time by up to 10 minutes. Bus information systems, which will digitally display real-time arrival times, will be added, as will 31 new bus shelters.

Cedar Avenue bus rapid transit between Lakeville and Minneapolis is being built ahead of schedule, thanks to partial funding from the UPA.

A Cedar Grove transit station is planned in Eagan. That and the two Lakeville transit stations are expected to significantly reduce Hwy. 77 and 35W traffic, as well as stem Lakeville residents from flowing into Burnsville's park-and-ride areas.

At the House of Wu Chinese Restaurant on Hwy. 13 near 35W in Burnsville, owner Art Wu said he's excited about the project -- and the end of a rush-hour bottleneck that keeps some customers away.

The UPA work triggered a sound study, but Burnsville Mayor Elizabeth Kautz is already insisting that state officials erect sound walls just south of the UPA project, near Burnsville Parkway.

Not everybody wants them.

Bill and Michelle Back live in a white rambler on Bliss Lane, on the west side of 35W near 106th Street in Bloomington. They're grateful that the state says there are too few residents there to justify a sound wall.

Michelle Back points to a barrier blocks away, saying it's akin to driving in a tunnel.

From their deck, the Backs don't even see the freeway below, just east across the Minnesota River bed, where deer and turkey strut. The Backs say they long ago grew used to the freeway sounds.