By Tim Engstrom
and Sarah Stultz

news@albertleatribune.com

Want to go to Wisconsin? Crossing the Mississippi River at Winona or Dresbach will pose problems this summer as the Minnesota Department of Transportation works to replace bridges.

Naturally, summer wouldn’t be summer this decade if Interstate 35 near Owatonna were free from road construction. The roundabout at Medford gets some attention, too.

Plaza Street could finally align with Plaza Street this summer. Maybe. The project remains in development. But for sure the southwest Albert Lea neighborhood with “hill” and “view” in the street names will get new pavement and curbs.

State Line Road gets a makeover, and Freeborn County will be nearly done with replacing structurally deficient bridges by the end of the summer.

The snow is melting. The ground is thawing, and just when the roads won’t be covered in ice, sand and salt, drivers get to deal with delays, detours and single-lane traffic. Who is ready to do the zipper?

Here are the road construction projects for Albert Lea and Freeborn County and the major state projects in the Rochester district of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

 

Albert Lea street projects

Note: The city doesn’t release estimates for projects prior to bidding.

Neighborhood improvement project

• Bituminous mill and overlay, curb replacement

• Canary Drive from West Ninth Street to Swanhill Drive, Regency Lane from West Ninth Street to Gateway Drive, Spartan Avenue from West Ninth Street to the cul-de-sac, Penn Avenue from West Ninth Street to Gateway Drive, Gateway Drive from U.S. Highway 69 to Swanhill Drive, Southview Lane from U.S. Highway 69 to Fourth Avenue, Skylark Lane from U.S. Highway 69 to Southview Lane, Swanhill Drive from West Ninth Street to Plainview Lane, Pinehill Drive from Southview Lane to Plainview Lane, Rosehill Drive from Southview Lane to Plainview Lane, Birch Hill Drive from Maplehill Drive to Fourth Avenue, Elmhill Drive from Birch Hill Drive to Plainview Lane, Plainview Lane from Skylark Lane to Fourth Avenue, Bel Aire Drive from U.S. Highway 69 to Hillhaven Avenue

• June 1 to Aug. 29

• Project not yet advertised for bids

U.S. Highway 52

• Construct interchange, frontage roads

• In Cannon Falls

• Already started (two-year project)

• Periodic lane closures

• $14.3 million, S.M. Hentges & Sons

 

U.S. Highway 52

• Construct overpass

• At Goodhue County Road 9

• Starts in April

• Single-lane traffic, detour

• $6.7 million, not contracted

 

U.S. Highway 52

• Resurface pavement

• 10 miles, from Iowa border to north of Fillmore County Road 22

• Starts in May

• Minor traffic delays

• $3.2 million, not contracted

 

U.S. Highway 63

• Resurface pavement

• 12 miles, from Minnesota Highway 16 to Root River

• Starts in May

• Detours

• $4.9 million, not contracted

 

U.S. Highway 63

• Preserve and maintain bridges

• Over Deer Creek and Bear Creek

• Starts in spring

• Detours

• $250,000, not contracted