I-90 switch, detour planned between Albert Lea and Petran

Published 7:30 pm Thursday, May 2, 2019

Westbound traffic on Interstate 90 between Highway 13 in Albert Lea and Freeborn County Road 46 near Petran will be moved into the eastbound lanes Monday and Freeborn County Road 46 traffic will be detoured Tuesday through Thursday, for the removal of the westbound bridge deck, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The traffic switch is expected to last through the summer. Traffic will travel in both directions in the eastbound lanes with vehicles using single lanes for each direction.

A number of westbound ramp closures will also be in effect beginning Monday. Detours will be signed.

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• The Freeborn 46 westbound I-90 entrance ramp is closed. Motorists can use the Freeborn County Road 26 westbound I-90 entrance ramp during the bridge deck removal next week.

• Westbound I-90 exits to Interstate 35 are closed. Motorists can detour by continuing west to exit at Freeborn County Road  22 and return eastbound I-90 to take ramps to I-35.

• I-35 exits to westbound I-90 are closed. Motorists can take I-90 east to Freeborn County Road 26 exit and then return to I-90 westbound.

• Highway 13 westbound I-90 exit is closed. Motorists can use the Freeborn County Road  22 exit, travel north to Freeborn County Road 14 west to Highway 13.

Other ramps along I-90 will be closed at later stages of the project. MnDOT will announce those changes in advance.

Ulland Brothers Inc., a MnDOT contractor, is paving a 12-mile stretch of the westbound lanes with concrete in a process called a concrete overlay. The $17.2 million concrete paving project includes the replacement of the westbound bridge deck over Freeborn County Road 46. Construction is expected to be complete Sept. 1.

To learn more about the project, go to www.dot.state.mn.us/d6/projects/i90-concreteoverlay/index.html.

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