the highway will be shutdown completely? I doubt it. Please word your story correctly.

Why can't we just have stop signs instead of these infernal roundabouts?

How much is there to study? 36 is going over Century due to the trail bridge next to it with ramps. Hadley will become an overpass without ramps since it is too close to the 36/694 interchange. The remaining intersections without stoplights will be closed.

The last two sentences of this article really bring the futility of the bridge into stark relief. The Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is litterally destroyed, a new ill advised major transportation corridor is created and billions spent to make it happen but they can't take the two stop lights out in Stillwater. Why? Because making interchanges there will obliterate 60% of the Stillwater business community. The idiocy of a billion dollar bridge project that Norm Coleman legislated to upgrade to freeway status that immediately encounters two stop lights in Stillwater is beyond stupid. Adding insult to injury, those two intersections will be interminably large with endlessly long waits for light changes. Just as Betty McCollum warned here comes a hundred million dollars worth of upgrades to HW 36 intersections to accomodate all that predicted Wisconsin commuter traffic made possible by this freeway bridge to what is now nowhere. The folly of this entire thinking is beyond comprehension. There was only a need for a small two lane bridge that would not stimulate huge new volumes intraffic that requires eventually 200 million dollars in 36 upgrades. And mark my words, within a decade those stop lights in Stillwater will be gone, the businesses shuttered, moved or dried up and there will be massive interchanges that complicate life for Stillwater residents. In short, the character and beauty of our town is being sacrificed to a worthless transportation upgrade concieved in the 20th century and outdated in every respect in the 21st. Those fiscal hawks that complain of taxes and government that have suported this boondoggle of unprecedented size and stupidity are directly responsible for the unwise expenditure of billions in transportation dollars that are ugently needed elsewhere. Unbelievable.

good. get rid of all stop signs at all intersections and build an overpass at everyone. think of all the new construction jobs. life is good.

The MnDOT presentation I attended including rebuilding the Hwy 36 bridge over the Keller Lake canal, which means 36 will be closed between the 35E/36 interchange and the White Bear Ave/36 interchange. MnDOT says the detour for the Maplewood phase of the project will be I-694. They must get this completed by next winter, because the following year will see another big project on 35E, which will re-rout a lot of traffic onto 36.

To the first commenter, yes, Hwy 36 will be closed completely in both directions for two months. Go to mndot.gov and read the plans for the project. I live at 35E/694 and you basically can't drive anywhere due to all the construction. 35E north reduced to one lane last summer. 694 to the east reduced to one lane all this summer/fall. 694 to the west under construction for this year and next. Hwy 36 closure next year and the rebuild of 35E at Cayuga next year too. I would tolerate the projects if any of these projects actually added any traffic capacity! Not a single one of these projects adds any extra traffic lanes that are badly needed.

When we will we see an article holding MNDOT's feet to the fire for the extended road closures on the Hwy 10/694 project? Eastbound hwy 10 will have been closed for a year and a half by the time the project is finished! Eastbound hwy 10 was supposed to open for the winter in a few weeks, but MNDOT decided to keep it closed until next fall. Westbound hwy 10 will close for a year too. Selling/Hamline ave has been closed for more than a year and finally reopens in the next week or two.

I drove from dwtn Stpaul to whitebearlake for yrs. the new 35/694 intersection is new but I don't feel it is better. Head west on 694 from the intersection and it is still 2 lanes. Why? The roadway is certainly wide enough for 3+ lanes.

694 to the west of the 35E/694 interchange was planned to be upgraded to three lanes sometime between 2012 and 2015. That is why MNDOT paved three lanes for 694 in the interchange. The rebuild of 694 from Rice St to Lexington has been delayed until after 2030 due to money. I don't believe MNDOT ever had plans to widen 694 to three lanes east of the interchange. MNDOT just repaved 694 in that area with concrete so they probably plan to stay two lanes indefinitely. No point of pouring concrete if they planned to rebuild to three lanes any time soon.