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Road Work: MnDOT's Highway 36/Hilton Trail Project Underway

The $13.8 million Highway 36/Hilton Trail improvement project started today. Construction is expected to continue through the fall.

Despite a late-season winter snow storm, MnDOT crews began working on the $13.8 million Highway 36/Hilton Trail improvement project on Monday.

Work on the project—taking place between I-694 and just east of Demontreville Trail North in Lake Elmo, Pine Springs and Grant—will include replacing the Highway 36/Hilton Trail signalized intersection with a grade-separated diamond interchange.

The Highway 36/Demontreville Trail intersection will also be converted to a ¾ intersection, and a reduced conflict intersection will be built just east of the intersection.

The median crossing at the Highlands Trail intersection will be closed, and the north frontage road (60th Street) will be extended over the Gateway Trail.

Drivers should not notice any major traffic impacts from the project until April, MnDOT Spokesperson Cara Chandler said.

According to MnDOT:

“This project will improve safety and efficiency on Highway 36, Hilton Trail, Highlands Trail and Demontreville Trail, while reducing the amount of through-traffic traveling through residential areas.”

The majority of the project is expected to be complete by mid-November.  Project clean-up and remaining restoration and maintenance work may carry over into spring 2014.

RELATED:Hilton Trail Renumbered to Head Off Confusion Before Construction Starts in 2013

Read more about reduced-conflict intersections and view a video demonstration on how to use them

Read more about this project

Project summary

Schedule

Begins: March 18, 2013

Ends: Fall 2013 with minor landscaping work continuing into spring 2014

Summary of work

  • Reconstruct the existing at-grade signalized intersection to be a grade-separated diamond interchange;
  • Connect the frontage road on the north side of Hwy 36 over the Gateway Trail.

Project Documents

Reports

Design layouts

Maps

Visualizations

Susan March 18, 2013 at 05:06 pm
It's going to be a mess but it is desperately needed. It was only a few months ago that I witnessed an accident at this intersection. Fortunately the results were minimal as the traffic was barely moving, but it could have been disastrous as I witnessed a semi hit a small car. Get it done...
Shari March 18, 2013 at 07:41 pm
I am so disappointed with MNDOT's plan for this portion of Highway 36. It appears that the neighborhoods were not taken into consideration. Although something needs to be done, having residents (school buses, farm equipment, emergency vehicles,etc) take a right turn to cross two lanes of traffic going 70-85 mph to make a u-turn (it really is a u-turn, not a j-turn) does not make sense. I just hope that no one I know gets killed as a result of this thoughtless, careless plan. Traffic will for sure increase in the neighborhoods because no one will want to make a u-turn on a highway. It is just ridiculous!
Susan March 18, 2013 at 07:53 pm
I've not encountered this type of intersection yet. I do however often enter Hwy 36 on from Keats on the south side. At certain times of the day, it is very difficult to find a safe opening to make that entrance onto the highway. From what I see on the video, people would have to do this twice at Hilton to make a turn...that can't make it more safe than a stop light, can it?
Randy Marsh March 18, 2013 at 08:43 pm
Yet another example of someone who wants everything while ignoring simple common sense. It's like people who build a home for a little less money in western Wisconsin and then complain when gas is $4 a gallon and insist on an expensive new bridge to make their commute easier. You decided to live in a low density housing area near a major divided highway and then complain about access to the highway. I'm surprised you didn't build next to the airport and then bitch about the noise. Maybe MnDOT should just build a tunnel for 20 times the cost, would that make you happy? Maybe those neighborhoods should have considering access to 36 before developing there.
Karen March 19, 2013 at 02:07 pm
Randy, do you ever leave an appropriate comment?

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Susan June 19, 2013 at 03:35 pm
Although it seems to not be the best use of our police officer's time, calling the police seems toRead More be the answer. In our neighborhood, we have been told time and time again by the city council, that they don't know if there is a problem, or how frequent that problem is, unless citizens call the police. Now, whether you can get the police to do something about it, is a completely different subject as most shrug you off as if you are nothing more than an annoying gnat. It would certainly be nice if the city would consider some sort of written complaint procedure.