Officials reflect on interchange project completion

“How many have spent … lots of their life waiting and congested in traffic here? And now that’s removed. It’s like a new day.”

That’s how Scott County Commissioner Jon Ulrich described the recent completion of the Highway 169/I-494 interchange project. Ulrich along with representatives from Edina, Eden Prairie, Bloomington, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, state Legislature and other community members gathered to celebrate the project’s finish with a ribbon cutting Nov. 29 at Hellmuth & Johnson PLLC in Edina.

“Probably the best thing … is to acknowledge the real heroes of this project. Those are the residents and the businesses that had to, let’s say, suffer through a long period of construction, congestion associated with that,” said Scott McBride, MnDOT metro district engineer. “It’s really great to finally see things being opened up now.”

The interchange was completed overnight on Nov. 21 and was in its final configuration by Thanksgiving after two years of construction. The entire project cost $125 million. The project reconstructed all of 169 in the interchange area and installed flyover bridges, loops and ramps, and six roundabouts. The new interchange also has six ramps instead of eight. Project contractor C.S. McCrossan/Edward Kraemer and Sons Joint Venture was also recognized during the event.

The project will allow people and freight to move more quickly through the interchange and safety will improve, according to MnDOT. The project is meeting its purpose and need, said Mike Barnes, MnDOT operations division director.

“We want to improve the quality of life in Minnesota and this is an example of a project that will do that,” he said.

Ulrich said the project improves the economic vitality of the region and affects communities as far south as Mankato. Since the project was announced, three large employers decided to locate on the corridor and cited the project as one of their reasons.

The project is an important gateway to Eden Prairie’s business community and is vital for economic development. There had to be a multi-jurisdictional collaboration with state, local and federal officials to make the project work. Sometimes it’s hard for that many groups to come together but the project seemed to come together easily, said Kathy Nelson, Eden Prairie City Council member.

“There are even probably more people in other parts of the city and south who are also thanking you because they probably have 10 to 20 minutes a day more with their families,” she said. “On behalf of Eden Prairie, thank you to all involved … We’re looking forward to good driving.”

District 55A Rep. Michael Beard, chair of the House Transportation Policy and Finance committee, said after the ribbon cutting that he was excited to see the project done the way it should have been. The project will have a positive impact on his constituents south of the river.

“I love the fact that this is again, further evidence that you can indeed pave your way out of congestion if you do it with good engineering and do it with some common sense,” he said.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Previous post Four schools closed to open enrollment
Next post The bridge hunter