Northbound Interstate 35 motorists will encounter some lane closures and traffic delays during a weigh station improvement project that begins Monday north of Albert Lea in Freeborn County, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Crews will install weigh-in-motion sensors on the northbound lanes of I-35 near mile marker 17 north of the Interstate 90 and Interstate 35 interchange near Albert Lea, construct a new building at an existing weigh station site and improve the lanes leading in and out of the new weigh station.

Motorists will encounter single lane traffic and short delays during the installation of the weigh-in motion sensors. Southbound I-35 traffic will not be impacted.

The weigh-in-motion system is a series of devices to record axle and gross vehicle weights while a vehicle drives over a measurement site in the road. According to MnDOT, the weighing process is more efficient for trucks because the weight is measured while the vehicle is in motion on the roadway. To learn more about the weigh-in-motion process and other MnDOT traffic data collection methods, go to http://www.dot.state.mn.us/traffic/data/coll-methods.html#WIM.

Ulland Brothers of Virginia, Minnesota is the prime contractor on the $2 million project. Construction is expected to be completed in early November.

MnDOT urges motorists to be attentive, drive with caution, slow down in work zones and never enter a road blocked with barriers or cones.