One road project near done, another moves along

Maybe the road signs along two major Woodbury construction areas could be changed to read: “It’s almost done.”

The big project along Interstate 494 that has closed ramps at four Woodbury interchanges and detoured traffic since April could get done ahead of schedule, a state transportation official said.

Also, crews are wrapping up construction and paving work along Century Avenue and Valley Creek Road, a route that is being used as an I-494 detour even as it undergoes construction.

Over the next week and a half workers will finish paving and striping along Century Avenue and Valley Creek Road, west of I-494. Traffic signals at the Lake Road and Valley Creek Road intersections will be turned on, and paving work will be completed on Century Avenue north of Upper Afton Road.

That project is coming to an end, Ramsey County officials said this week.

Meanwhile, work continues on a more visible area project, I-494 construction from Interstate 94 to south of Lake Road.

The I-494 work has been a hassle for motorists, but the work is moving along as planned and could wrap up ahead of schedule.

“Things are going really well and if they continue to go well there’s a chance we could get done early,” said Marc Briese of the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

However, MnDOT is keeping with its scheduled completion date of July 20. That also is the targeted completion date of the Wakota Bridge construction.

Crews are working on the lane expansion of the northbound side of I-494. When it is completed, I-494 will have three continuous lanes of traffic in each direction, from I-94 to the Wakota Bridge.

A noise wall along the east side of the freeway south of Lake Road still is under construction.

Tags: daily updates, road construction