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Engineering sections: Public Works divisions: Related links: |
US Highway 169/I-494 interchange
New Hwy 169/494 Interchange video available at Mn/DOTThe Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and their city partners of Bloomington, Eden Prairie, and Edina continue to seek funding for the important interchange. The initial opportunity for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding for the US 169/I-494 interchange was not successful. MnDOT has again applied for federal assistance via another funding opportunity. They've now applied for a portion of the $1.5 billion available nationwide in Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) funds for larger projects.
MnDOT has put a six-minute
video The projects selected for the use of TIGER funds are expected to be announced late this year or early 2010. There are approximately 1,400 projects with a total costs of $57 billion competing for the $1.5 billion available.
For more information visit: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/169/
Project updateThe US-169/I-494 interchange is one of the most significant traffic bottlenecks in the southwest metropolitan area. While the improvement of this interchange is of great regional significance, the project has been in and out of the Minnesota Department of Transportation's (MnDOT) construction program many times due to its high cost. In an effort to reduce the project's cost to a fundable level, MnDOT has been working with the cities of Eden Prairie, Edina and Bloomington to redesign the project so that costs would be reduced from approximately $180 million to $140 million. The approximate $40 million savings would be realized by delaying the construction of two underutilized ramps - eastbound I-494 to northbound US-169 and southbound US-169 to westbound I-494 - because these traffic movements are already provided by TH-212 a short distance to the north. The lower-cost, phased approach would allow the ramps to be added in the future if needed. Based on traffic modeling, it is likely that they may never be needed. As part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), often called the "Federal Economic Stimulus," approximately $250 million has been made available to fund highway and other transportation projects in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. The decision on how these funds will be spent rests with the Transportation Advisory Board (TAB), a 33-member group of elected and appointed officials. A large number of projects were submitted for funding under ARRA, including the lower cost, $140 million US-169/I-494 project. During TAB's deliberation of ARRA funding, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) stated that they would not approve the lower cost US-169/I-494 project because of a FHWA policy to provide all traffic movements at major interchanges. Despite significant efforts by MnDOT and others supporting the project, the FHWA was not willing to allow the $140 million project to proceed in the phased manner proposed by MNDOT that would allow the ultimate project FHWA desires based on objective traffic load criteria. As a result, TAB did not fund the US-169/I-494 interchange project with available ARRA funds. MnDOT has pledged to continue efforts to fund this project when funding opportunities arise. Because the project is large compared to many roadway projects and available transportation funds are scarce, it is unclear when the US-169/I-494 interchange project will proceed. Note: Access information about major road projects directly from our Web site's home page (or any page with the "CityWEB" banner at the top). Hover over the "Traffic & Roads" button in the top menu, then scroll down to the "Major road projects" link.
For more information, contact:
Jim Gates, Deputy Director of Public Works
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(14.4MB
.wmv file) together illustrating the most recent application.
