Hwy 169 Nine Mile Creek bridge closure starts Jan. 10th

Traffic closure map (PDF)

Notice:

Nine Mile Creek Bridge on Hwy 169 between Bren Rd. in Minnetonka and 7th St. (5th St. – Lincoln Dr. exit) in Edina will be closed both directions starting at 5 a.m. Tuesday, Jan. 10. 

The associated northbound and southbound ramps going toward the bridge will also be closed. Southbound Hwy 169 from Excelsior Blvd. to 7th St. and northbound Hwy 169 from Hwy 62 to Bren Rd. will also be reduced to one lane.

The exit ramp from westbound I-394 to southbound Hwy 169 will also be closed during the project. 

The bridge closure and lane reductions are necessary as crews begin to remove the Nine Mile Creek Bridge, which is being replaced next year. The work is expected to last through Oct. 2017, weather permitting.

Comment: 10 months of traffic misery!

Minnesota Hwy 169 Project - Both directions of Hwy 169 over Nine Mile Creek will be closed for full year

Summary of work - Work on Hwy 169 will include:

Excerpt:

• Replacing the Hwy 169 bridge over Nine Mile Creek in Hopkins, Minnetonka and Edina. Bridge conditions require that it be replaced by 2020. Fall 2016 through fall 2017: Both directions of Hwy 169 over Nine Mile Creek will be closed. Advantages of a full closure: Reduces construction impacts from 3 years to 1 year by consolidating all of the planned Hwy 169 projects
• Reconstructing more than six miles of pavement on Hwy 169 between Hwy 55 and just north of Hwy 62.
• Constructing acceleration and deceleration lanes on Hwy 169 at Cedar Lake Road.
• Removing access to and from southbound Hwy 169 at 16th Street in St. Louis Park (proposed).
• Repairing noise walls.
• Replacing concrete barrier.
• Improving pedestrian accessibility.

City of Plymouth project announcement
Project Map (PDF)
Comment: Plenty of time to plan

Driving back on Hwy 169

I drove back from Des Moines to Plymouth along U.S. Route 169

• I left Des Moines at 1:00 p.m. I had to use On-Star once. I was at the entrance to I-235 and didn't know whether I should have gone East or West. Turns out the answer was East. (I was here)
  
• I exited I-35 at Ames, bought an Iowa map and gassed up
  
• Took US Hwy 30 West through Boone and onto Ogden where I picked up 169
  
• Now North on 169: Through Fort Dodge (the Hwy by-passes the town) and then onto Humboldt. I stopped at a convenient store / gas station and bought a Mountain Dew. There was a sign on the door: "High School Seniors, 10% off". I trying to claim the 10% discount for being a Senior. The checkout clerk was not amused!
  
• Onto Algona. The last "big town" in Iowa.
  
• Finally the Minnesota border and Elmore (the boyhood home Walter Mondale)
  
• Then Blue Earth. I stopped for a break and called Kathee to advise her of my progress. 5:00 p.m.
  
• I stopped again for a break at a rest area 25 miles N of Mankato. 50 miles left to go. Getting tired
  
• Arrived home at 7:12 p.m. Kathee had a nice dinner awaiting!
  

Comment: I love Iowa! I love Minnesota. I could live in some of these towns

Route

Hwy 169 / Hwy 81 Overpass completed

Devil of a traffic problem is fixed

Excerpt:

A $50 million exorcism of the notorious "devil's triangle'' of traffic delays and crashes in the northwest metro is down to the finishing touches on a new up-and-over bridge on Hwy. 169.

A quarter mile of Hwy. 169 through Brooklyn Park and Osseo has been rebuilt on piers that now take the highway over traffic signals at Hwy. 81 and N. 85th Avenue that once intersected Hwy. 169 in a nightmarish triangle.

The triangle was known for trying delays, rear-end collisions and even fatalities. Driver tempers flared in the 20, sometimes 30, minutes it took at rush hour to inch along Hwy. 169 through the two signals at Hwy. 81 and 85th Avenue. Compounding the delays, an occasional freight train would roll across 169, bringing traffic to a halt.

The project -- four years in the making -- unclogs another of the Twin Cities' biggest traffic bottlenecks, one that 56,000 vehicles travel through daily.

Comment: Earlier posts on project:

• Speaking of the Highway 169 Triangle (Jan 10,2010)
  
• Hwy 169 / Hwy 81 completion date Fall 2011 (July 13, 2009)
  
• Hwy 169 "the devil's triangle" redo delayed (December 15, 2006)
  

Comment: A vast improvement.

Speaking of the Highway 169 Triangle

Comment: Project details here:

Project home: Highway 169 Triangle

Final layout (PDF - large)

Hwy 169 / Hwy 81 completion date Fall 2011

Devil's Triangle traffic plan hits snag

Excerpt:

... the Devil's Triangle work -- which involves rebuilding the intersection of 85th Avenue, Hwy. 169 and County Road 81 -- isn't scheduled for completion until the fall of 2011.

Comment: I blogged on this earlier here. I don't go this way often but it is the closest messy highway area to my home. (Hwy 169 at 494 is another)