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On any given day a drive from Eden Prairie on the 494 takes 20 minutes to get to Hwy 77, not the five or ten minutes it should take. Stop and go and logjam are daily occurrences which begin at the current 494/169 interchange. MNDOT's 494/169 project, was scheduled for 2016 completion, and would have removed traffic lights and turned Hwy 18 into a legitimate Freeway. Something we're not very familiar with. The back-up of cars from Eden Prairie eastbound to the 169 interchange has resulted in numerous accidents. We can't forget Lucille Sailor, the infant, who died in March of 2008, from a chain-reaction crash on Interstate 494 in Eden Prairie. Five eastbound vehicles were stopped on I-494 near Hwy. 169, when a sixth vehicle switched lanes behind them and rear-ended the back car. A letter from MNDOT to the Minnesota Legislature's Transportation Committee Chair Steve Murphy says that traffic accidents at the 169/494 interchange are above the state average. Evidently safety has not been a priortity when considering all the projects. Area businesses support the project upgrade because they say the traffic lights slow business in the area. In Spring 2009 the project hit another snag, differences between state and federal officials about numbers of ramps. While bureaucrats are disagreeing, drivers have begun to seriously vent by blogging. How long does it take to get from 35 W to 494 in Eden Prairie? One blogger said 20 minutes to two days. Smaller highway projects are getting stimulus dollars so there's a lot of the usual griping going on about poor planning and leadership at the local level. Peter Bell of the Metropolitan Council said, “Though the Council is disappointed the interchange at I-494 and Trunk Highway 169 is not among the projects to advance at this time, many other important and necessary improvements will be accomplished with these stimulus dollars. We will continue to advocate and seek funding for the interchange,” said Bell. "The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) did not approve Mn/DOT’s proposal for the interchange, but MnDOT indicates it will continue to pursue all other avenues to rebuild the intersection, including competing for a portion of the $1.5 billion in stimulus funds that the FHWA will allocate. The Twin Cities metro area will receive nearly $250 million, primarily for roads and highways, as a result of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Of that, $168 goes to Mn/DOT for allocation, and $80 million goes to the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), composed jointly of the Metropolitan Council and TAB. ($7.5 million of the MPO money is for transportation enhancements, including bike and pedestrian projects.) http://www.metrocouncil.org/news/2009/news_641.htm According to MNDOT's web site the project is on hold, has not been scheduled and has no funding. http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/169/projectoverview.html |
| Last Updated on Wednesday, 13 May 2009 20:52 |
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Getting There? How And When...
Friday, 24 April 2009 19:07
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