Free Republic

State transportation officials want to do something about traffic and safety on Interstate 94 between downtown Minneapolis and Interstate 694, as well as state Highway 252 between I-694 and Highway 610. Minnesota Department of Transportation is considering converting a stretch of highway into a freeway and putting MnPASS lanes on I-94 and 252. But some are raising concerns about what the proposed changes might mean for residents of north Minneapolis who live along the I-94 corridor. Alex Burns is chair of the Sierra Club North Star Chapter's land use and transportation team. He said that more traffic on I-94 will...

The Twin Ports Interchange reconstruction project through Lincoln Park soared $100 million over budget this month, forcing planners to defer indefinitely portions of the work scheduled for 2020-23. The $343 million project is scheduled to begin in May. Minnesota Department of Transportation figures released Monday at a regular public meeting about the project showed a $443 million price tag. "This is what happens with every big project," Duane Hill, district engineer based in Duluth, said Monday. "You have to manage it as you go along. We thought we did a good job initially coming up with a budget for this...

Southbound Interstate 35 in Duluth was closed Monday, and will remain closed for at least a week or more after bridge inspectors found a deteriorated piling on the roadway. The damaged piling is on one of 38 supports, or piers, for the low bridge that runs from Mesaba Avenue west to near 21st Avenue West. The piling that supports the pier “was so corroded we could see through it,” Duane Hill, chief district engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, told the News Tribune.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation emergency response executive who failed to return to the state for 10 days after the Interstate 35W bridge collapsed was fired Friday for taking unauthorized trips, making excessive personal calls on her MnDOT cell phone and bringing embarrassment to the state.Staying away from crisis Kevin Hanretta, who was at a conference with Pitt when the bridge collapsed, told MnDOT's investigator that Pitt was torn between staying on the East Coast and returning to Minnesota. Hanretta told the investigator that Pitt decided to stay put because her staff was "doing a great job" and she was...

A leading critic of the Hiawatha light-rail line claims the Minnesota Department of Transportation has known for years that the trains could cause traffic tie-ups along nearby Hiawatha Avenue. Rep. Phil Krinkie, R-Shoreview, contends that e-mail and other documents demonstrate that MnDOT staff knew a decision to operate the 12-mile line so its trains take precedence over local traffic would cause long delays on cross streets.