Washington Avenue Reconstruction Update

Via a December 3 e-newsletter from Hennepin County:

All lanes now open on Washington Avenue

Starting today at 10:30 a.m., westbound lanes on Washington Avenue reopened to traffic between 3rd and Portland avenues. All westbound and eastbound lanes are now open and major construction work is complete for the season on Washington Avenue.

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Crews will continue to remove construction related signage through the weekend and will paint turn arrows at 5th Avenue and additional striping on 3rd Avenue Monday. This may require some short term lane closures. The lane reductions on 3rd Avenue near Washington related to City of Minneapolis work will remain until the middle of next week.

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Thank you for your patience as we worked to reconstruct and improve this important route these last few months.

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Winter travel considerations

As you navigate the reconstructed roadway over the winter months, please keep in mind:

- Some orange cones and barriers will remain in place this winter. This is to help traffic and plows safely navigate the partially reconstructed road.

- Sidewalks will remain open through the corridor and will be maintained by the City of Minneapolis.

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Cycle track to remain closed

The new cycle track (off-street bike path) will remain closed over the winter until new traffic signals with bike-specific lights are installed early next year. This is to ensure the safety of bicyclists and other road users. If you are traveling by bike in the area, you may consider choosing an alternate route such as:

- 2nd Street for traveling east or west 

- 3rd Street for traveling east

- 4th Street for traveling west

- West River Parkway for traveling east or west

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All these routes run parallel to Washington Avenue and have dedicated bicycle infrastructure.

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Looking ahead to 2017 work

Reconstruction of eastbound lanes on Washington Avenue will begin in spring 2017. At that time, a new detour will begin for eastbound traffic following Hennepin Avenue, 4th Street South and Portland Avenue. 

Washington Avenue will remain open to westbound traffic throughout 2017, though some short-term lane reductions on that side of the road are possible. Westbound work yet to be completed includes:

- Installing permanent curb and pedestrian ramps at the northeast corner of 3rd and Washington avenues

- Completing new sidewalk and cycle track between 3rd and 4th avenues

- Greening and landscaping elements

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Thank you for following our regular email updates about this project. They will be less frequent over the winter, but will pick back up again as project work begins in 2017.

If you have any questions in the meantime, don't hesitate to reach out using the contact information below.

Contact us

Project website: www.hennepin.us/washingtonavenue
Project email: washingtonave@hennepin.us
Project phone: 612-543-3722
 
Project engineer:
Stanley Lim, P.E
stanley.lim@hennepin.us
612-596-0292
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