MNDOT Mike Previews 2017 Highway Projects [VIDEO]

Rochester, MN (KROC AM News) - The Minnesota Department of Transportation is wrapping up a busy construction season in southeastern Minnesota, while also preparing for another busy summer next year. MNDOT spokesman Mike Dougherty (aka MNDOT Mike) provided a "sneak peek" of some of the major projects planned next year on Friday during his regular monthly visit to KROC-AM for the Rochester Today Show.

He says much of the work will involve Highway 52 between Rochester and the Twin Cities, including repaving the northbound lanes of the busy highway from just north of Rochester to Cannon Falls. Dougherty says the project is sure to cause some traffic backups and delays, but MNDOT engineers are busy devising methods aimed at keeping the disruptions to a minimum.

He discusses those strategies and the other projects that are being planned for the busy Highway 52 corridor door in the YouTube video at the top of this post.

With the 2016 construction season waning, Dougherty says the bridge project on Highway 52 at the Highway 63 interchange in Rochester is getting close to completion. He says the northbound bridge is expected to be reopened to traffic in several weeks and crews will wrap up painting work and other finishing touches in early November.

The massive I-90 bridge project near La Crosse is also in its final stages. Nearly all of the driving lanes on the new bridge and the Highway 61 interchange were opened to traffic this week and crews are predicted to wrap up the $187 million, four-year, project in about a month.

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