After a winter that brutalized streets, Hennepin County has begun two road repair projects in the area.
Work along New Brighton Boulevard has started south of the 29th Ave. NE (County Road 94) intersection. Work on the section north of 29th Ave. NE is anticipated to begin around May 15. The intersection will remain open at a reduced capacity while work is completed. Crews will work along the outside lanes on either side of the road, guiding traffic to the inside lanes.
Work along Stinson Boulevard has started between New Brighton Boulevard and Hennepin Avenue East (County Road 52). Crews started repair work on the inside lanes, guiding traffic to the outside lanes.
MnDOT will soon close the Plymouth Ave. Bridge for repairs. Lanes will be resurfaced, and a concrete curb will be installed between driving lanes and bike lanes. Ramps and traffic signals will also be upgraded. The bridge is expected to reopen in the fall.
The long-awaited reconstruction of 37th Avenue between Stinson Boulevard and Central Avenue will begin May 22. The project will be completed in November.
The avenue, which separates Minneapolis from Columbia Heights, will be completely rebuilt and will include two lanes of traffic, a multi-purpose trail, landscaping and other amenities.
A preconstruction meeting was held May 10 at the Columbia Heights Library and was also available online. Construction leaders made a presentation and residents asked questions, many of them about access to their properties and driveways.
The $12.8 million project will be done in two phases, the first from Johnson Street to Stinson and then, beginning in early August, from Johnson to Central.
“We are very happy where we are right now, and we have high hopes for what it will look like when it’s done,” said Sulmaan
there will be some pain before we get to that beautiful street.”
The construction company hired for the project, Eureka Construction Inc., will attempt to keep the avenue open for local traffic to some degree during the entire project.
In Phase I, from Stinson to Johnson, the north side (Columbia Heights) will be worked on first beginning May 22, and the south side (Minneapolis) will be worked on later. About the first week of August, Phase II will begin from Johnson to Central, and the same north side first and south side later schedule will be maintained.
Most traffic will be detoured around the project, and buses will also be taking alternate routes. Khan advised bus commuters to check with Metro Transit.
Ayalew Getaneh, the construction engineer for the City of Minneapolis, said the construction day will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday. There will be times when there will be temporary water shut-offs, and Getaneh said residents will be notified in advance.
In fact, he said, communication will be stressed throughout the project, and he urged residents to sign up for a weekly newsletter and to call him and other officials with concerns or questions about the project.
He said when the construction crews are rebuilding a resident’s driveway, there may be a three-to-seven-day closure of the driveway. He said residents would be notified in advance.
Both Getaneh and Khan said many of the access problems will be handled one on one between the cities and the homeowners. One resident noted that home owners will have to use alleys to reach their properties in some cases, and the alleys have potholes of major proportions.
The reconstruction will use basically the same footprint as the current 37th Avenue but will also go two to four feet beyond the present sidewalks into the residents’ yards. Trees, flowers, shrubs, decorative features, sprinkler systems will all be affected.
Getaneh encouraged residents to pay attention to the work being done in order to avoid things like driving into freshly poured concrete.
“The first couple of weeks for a project like this are chaos,” Genaneh said, “but then people seem to be okay with the work.”
Residents told the engineers that diverting traffic onto Johnson Street for a detour might be problem because the street already has safety problems.
Residents also asked about assessments for the work. Khan said that in Columbia Heights, residents can either pay for the assessment all at once or in installments over 10 years. He said that assessment has not yet been determined but should be by October. The assessments will also be charged to side street homes that go halfway up the block from 37th.
One citizen asked about the noise and vibration levels, and Getaneh said there will be vibration when the street is demolished and at other times. He said he will be bringing a vibration detector to the work site. He also said construction vehicles will not be parked on side streets.
Khan said the speed limit on the reconstructed 37th Avenue has yet to be determined but the Columbia Heights City Council has been talking about it.
Residents noted that an earlier project on 37th from Central to University already is showing marked deterioration, including eroding asphalt and collapsing retaining walls. They hoped the construction quality of this project would be better.
And a resident noted that nothing had been updated on the project’s website since February. Getaneh said the website would be updated soon.
Khan concluded by saying, “We’re not trying to sugar coat it. There will be some pain. The project will have an impact. Please stay in contact. We will try to solve problems immediately.”
Contact information for the project includes:
Sulmaan Khan, Columbia Heights City Engineer, 763-706-3704, skhan@columbia heightsmn.gov
Ayalew Getaneh, Minneapolis Construction Engineer, 612-499-7557, ayalew. getaneh@minneapolismn.gov
Mike Derr, project manager for Eureka, 612-280-6248.
An interactive map of the project is located on the Columbia Heights Public Works website under construction projects, 37th Avenue. Minneapolis also has a website for the project at minneapolismn.gov/govern ment/projects/37th-ave-ne-reconstruction.
Hennepin County is repairing Stinson Boulevard removing and replacing large slabs of concrete from 29th Ave. NE to East Hennepin, as this section near the Quarry Shopping Center shows. (Photo by Cynthia Sowden)