Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Westbound Interstate 90 motorists from Minnesoa Highway 13 to Interstate 35 will encounter a left lane closure in the westbound lanes beginning Oct. 11 as crews begin installing high-tension cable median barrier, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

The lane closure in Freeborn County will be approximately 4.9 miles in length. Mattison Contractors is the prime contractor on the $644,693 project. Work is scheduled to be completed by the end of November, according to a press release.

The barriers are made of three or four steel cables strung on posts. When a car hits the barrier, the posts break and the cables flex, absorbing much of a crash’s kinetic energy. This redirects the vehicle along the median, preventing a cross-median crash.

The release stated MnDOT has evaluated the performance of cable median barriers and determined that nearly all of the fatal and serious injury cross median crashes have been eliminated where the barrier has been installed. There are restrictions on where cable median barrier can be installed, but MnDOT is moving forward with strategic installations in locations where the risk of cross median crashes are the highest.

To learn more, visit MnDOT’s website about cable median barriers.