Print this story | E-mail story | This story has 5 comments Add your own | iPod friendly
Interstate 94 pavement marking project begins Aug. 7
Published Thursday, July 31, 2008
Motorists should expect daytime and nighttime lane and shoulder closures along Interstate 94 starting on Aug. 7. Crews will work 24 hours a day, beginning at 7 a.m. on Mondays through noon on Fridays.
Interstate 94 locations include Highway 34 to Wilkin/Otter Tail county line, north Highway 59 junction to Highway 79 and Highway 114 to the Douglas/Todd county line. Work will continue through Oct. 3.
The contractor will perform preliminary work at the east end of the east section of the project on Aug. 7, with the full project operation beginning Monday, Aug. 11. Crews will begin the process by grooving the pavement, then striping the edge lines with wet reflective paint and placing poly perform tape in the lane lines.
Mn/DOT urges motorists to slow down and use caution while traveling through a work zone. For updated statewide traffic, construction and travel information visit www.511mn.org.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by cascade (anonymous) on July 31, 2008 at 12:15 p.m. (Suggest removal)
They should take this opportunity to take down the useless lights MNDOT has put up @ every on/off ramp...
Posted by wayne (anonymous) on July 31, 2008 at 7:07 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I wouldn't say that the lighting at freeway interchanges is "useless." It's in place to assist drivers in safely entering and exiting the freeway. The increased lighting (over and above the headlights of vehicles) allows drivers better visibility at night when navigating an area where they are transitioning from high-speed traffic on the freeway to lower speeds on the local system, and vice-versa.
Mn/DOT has also found that increased lighting at rural intersections and rail crossings has reduced crashes and made those intersections safer.
Posted by cascade (anonymous) on August 1, 2008 at 6:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Wow- are you a highway engineer or something? You almost convinced me.
I just think MNDOT has better things to spend its money on than making completely safe interchanges even safer.
Posted by hethas1 (anonymous) on August 1, 2008 at 10:43 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Great timing, just as about 60,000 people are traveling up to the area for WE Fest the 7th-10th. We'll see how backed up the interstate gets.
Posted by wayne (anonymous) on August 1, 2008 at 4:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Nope, not an engineer, but I do know a little about the topic. I would agree that the average interchange is pretty safe for those of us that regularly travel and/or live in this area. But for someone unfamiliar with the area, or someone who can't see as well as the rest of us (elderly drivers, for example), the additional lighting provides an extra little bit of help in navigating an interchange.
As for the point of money. . . interchange lighting - for the benefit it provides - is relatively inexpensive. You couldn't pave much roadway for the same cost as lighting one interchange. And even if you included lighting at every interchange in the district, you'd *maybe* get a couple of miles of pavement for the same cost. If the additional lighting saves a life, it's well worth the cost. (And it's kind-of a moot point anyway, since the lighting is already in place - removing the lighting would just be that much more expensive)
I do agree that the timing could have been a little better considering WE Fest, but I also know that to a certain extent, Mn/DOT has to do the work when the contractors are available to do it. Unfortunate timing, but that's the way it goes.
Post a comment
(Requires free registration.)