A new freeway is coming to Elk River, thanks to a MnDOT project to convert a three-mile section of Hwy 169 between Hwy 101/Hwy 10 and 197th Avenue.

Construction began in April and is expected to take three full construction seasons to complete, with work including reconstructing all four lanes of Hwy 169 and adjacent road connections, building four new interchanges, improving pedestrian accessibility along city streets, upgrading underground infrastructure and utilities, and replacing the northbound Hwy 101/169 bridge over Hwy 10.

It’s a complicated project with a name that fits its scope and ambition: 169 Redefine. Completed in partnership with MnDOT, the City of Elk River and Sherburne County, the project will require reducing Hwy 169 to one lane of traffic in both directions through each work area. Access to and from Hwy 169 and adjacent streets will change, and motorists will follow road signs to the next open access. Pedestrians will have sidewalk closures with detours.

The new freeway is expected to be complete in 2024. When finished, it will greatly improve traffic flow, increasing capacity and reducing bottlenecks, and enhancing motorist and pedestrian safety along this three-mile stretch.

To learn more or keep tabs on the project, visit the 169 Redefine page on the MnDOT website.

MnDOT is always looking for new ways to innovate, including in public engagement. One recent addition to the list is the Sustainability and Public Health Fellowship, an artist-in-residence pilot program now in its third year.

MnDOT established the pilot in 2019, in partnership with Smart Growth America (as discussed in Newsline in 2019). Program administrator Jessica Oh, in the Sustainability and Public Health Division, says that by offering a new perspective on transportation issues, artists help MnDOT “apply creative approaches to challenging problems, demonstrate sensitivity to underserved communities, and help us dream of a different and more equitable transportation future.”

The first Transportation Equity Fellow, an artist in residence pilot, Marcus Young, recently completed his work, which included a project bringing together the realms of planning and storytelling and creating an temporary redesign of a conference room at Central Office, reimaging it as space to support employees creativity and land acknowledgement in all its forms.

A new artist, Sarah Petersen, began work creative approaches to support MnDOT’s greenhouse gas reduction activities on the Sustainability and Public Health Division in March and will continue through February 2023, the end of this program’s pilot. Petersen’s art is multidisciplinary, spanning installations, performance, sculpture, painting, drawing, sound, video and writing, and she’s especially interested in collective processes and approaches to shared problems and solutions. She also has 9 years of experience as a teacher, including at the Minneapolis College of Art & Design and in the Environmental Studies Program at Hamline University.  

This varied past experience serves as the foundation of Petersen’s fellowship plans.
    
“I'm really interested in the place and the site and the context of a project location,” she says. “I'm interested in the history: What happened there? I’m attracted to the idea of digging into the context of MnDOT projects and the communities they affect and the specific problems to be solved, especially around questions of transportation equity, public health and sustainability.”

Petersen’s work so far has involved a discovery process, during which she has met with different agency offices and districts to look for collaborators, understand MnDOT’s goals and priorities, and listen to employees working on issues related to sustainability and public health. This has included, for example, learning about the agency’s work on reducing vehicle miles traveled and use of natural, sustainability-minded materials in landscaping and hardscaping.

It’s a partnership and collaborative process—through art, storytelling and direct engagement, Petersen will build on MnDOT’s efforts and goals, helping to expand existing conversations and shift perspectives.

“Artists are good people to help articulate problems and solutions in ways that haven't been articulated yet in collaboration with people who are experts in their fields,” Petersen says. “My job is to be in collaboration with all the different kinds of experts and specialists at MnDOT and help them think about things in new ways. I’m also happy to be a vector for creative ideas that other people also have. I'm excited to collaborate on other people's great ideas, too.”

To learn more about Petersen’s work, including both the process and the end results, visit the Sustainability and Public Health Fellowship section of the MnDOT website.

A new 188-mile bike route connecting St. Cloud to Moorhead gives people in Minnesota more opportunity to take a trip by pedal power.

U.S. Bicycle Route 20, MnDOT’s newest nationally designated bike route (and the third in the state), connects Moorhead, west-central and central Minnesota to St. Cloud and the Mississippi River Trail (U.S. Bicycle Route 45). Traveling through scenic Minnesota prairies and past dozens of the state’s 10,000 lakes, the route invites riders to visit a series of small and historic towns parallel to I-94. It follows and links several state and regional trails, with more than two-thirds of the route on off-road paths.

But the route it still needs a name.

MnDOT turned to members of the public to help select one. Voters could choose from several options on an electronic form. These names, which highlight geographic features along the bike route, were suggested by participants attending a MnDOT event last year:

• Glacial Lakes Bicycle Route
• Prairie Lakes Bicycle Route
• MiddleSota Bicycle Route
• Rivers to Prairies Bicycle Route
• Towns and Fields Bicycle Route

Voting closed July 12. The winning name will be announced later this summer.

Work on developing Route 20 began in 2020, when the Office of Transit and Active Transportation went through a process to identify and select the next route for designation. The Route 20 corridor scored highly on health, economic, environmental and equity need metrics. It also offered an opportunity to leverage the significant investments already made in the Lake Wobegon and Central Lakes Trails.

The U.S. Bicycle Route System is a network of numbered cross-country routes. Currently there are more than 18,000 miles of U.S. Bicycle Routes in 31 states.

U.S. Bicycle Routes combine existing roads and shared-use paths to create routes that connect some of Minnesota’s most beloved places. MnDOT aims for these routes to be easy to follow, scenic in nature and on the safest available existing roads and paths. MnDOT's preference is to locate routes on paths separate from car and truck traffic. If that’s not possible, the second choice is road facilities with bicycle lanes or wide shoulders.

“Using existing infrastructure for U.S. Bicycle Routes makes the costs relatively small in comparison to building new facilities,” said Jake Rueter, active transportation coordinator. “MnDOT is currently working with a contractor not only on Route 20, but also on revisions to U.S. Bicycle Routes 41 (North Star Route) and 45 (Mississippi River Trail). The total cost of these contracted services is less than $250,000.”

MnDOT aims for these routes to be easy to follow, scenic in nature and on the safest available existing roads and paths. MnDOT's first choice is to locate routes on paths separate from car and truck traffic. If not available, road facilities with bicycle lanes or wide shoulders are preferred.

The agency had help with figuring out some of the better ways to do this. User feedback garnered during the public engagement process primarily focused on the condition of potential road and trail facilities, and destinations that would be desirable for people traveling along the route.

“We are extremely grateful to people who shared their local expertise, whether highlighting an area where road conditions make bicycling difficult, or a local destination that may help attract people to stop in communities,” Rueter said. “Minnesota has long been seen as a leader when it comes to making places for people to bike no matter their skill level or desired trip type. Designating additional U.S. Bicycle Routes continues to demonstrate this commitment, brings economic benefits to communities through bicycle tourism, and highlights the distinct natural beauty of our state.”

By Anne Meyer