Blake Road - 2022 / 2023 Roadway Reconstruction

On February 14, 2023, during business hours, Blake Road between Oak Bend Lane and Fox Meadow Lane will be closed for Xcel to complete power pole work. On February 15, the closure will move to Interlachen Blvd between Waterman Ave and the east entrance to the Interlachen Country Club. Both closures will be during daytime hours only and will be removed in the afternoon as soon as the work is completed. Detours will be posted for both closures. Thanks for your patience.

Comcast Communications will be relocating existing aerial cables to new underground cables. Their contractor, D&D Service, will be using a mini excavator (minimal use), trucks with fiber splicing trailers with small generators, aerial bucket trucks and hydro excavators (minimal use). This work is scheduled to occur between midnight and 6 am on two separate evenings. Work will start at midnight on Monday, Dec. 19 until 6 am on Tuesday, Dec. 20 and again starting at midnight on Tuesday, Dec. 20 until 6 am on Wednesday, Dec. 21. There are 6 locations for this work.

1. Intersection of Waterman Avenue and Blake Road South on the northeast corner
2. Intersection of Interlachen Boulevard and Blake Road South on the northside of the road
3. Southside of Interlachen Boulevard near home address 6195
4. Northside of Interlachen Boulevard near home address 6321
5. Intersection of Blake Road South and Oak Bend Lane on the northwest corner
6. Westside of Blake Road South at approximate address 5124

There will be outages to service in the area. The service outages will vary. The official cutover start and end times are 12:00 P.M. to 06:00 A.M. All service impacts must operate in these time frames. These outages are approved through corporate Comcast and follow all protocols. The goal for the fiber splicers is to bring the major service impacts back on line as soon as possible. They will be using flaggers to manage traffic.

Sanitary sewer lining began on 11/8 and is scheduled to conclude on 11/11. Pungent odors from the lining process are common. To prevent odors in your home, pour a gallon of water into floor drains and infrequently used sinks. Limiting major water use is required to avoid a sewer backup if you live on Blake Road north of Waterman Avenue. Check your front door daily for details and notice of this work occurring on Blake Road. Please contact Xavier Kopp with questions XKopp@wsbeng.com or 612-741-7096.

The contractor will start paving 2 of 3 layers of street pavement today. They will ramp at the edge of the concrete curb and gutter so snowplows can operate this winter. Next year, the contractor will return to complete the sidewalk along the west side, turf restoration, the final layer of street pavement, and permanent pavement markings. They were unable to completely finish this phase of the project due to private utility conflicts and concrete & labor shortages. Thanks for your patience with this project.

The intersections at Belmore and Mendelssohn with Blake Road are closed until mid-next week due to the installation of concrete valley gutters. Spruce and Maloney are still open for access in the neighborhood. Thanks

The contractor's schedule has concrete work finishing this week, backfill and prep for paving the week of Oct. 17, paving the two of three layers of the asphalt street the week of Oct. 24, and paving the final layer the week of Oct. 31 or Nov. 7. If schedules and weather continue to align, the road should be open the 2nd or 3rd week of November. Thanks for you patience.

The unground utilities are complete. The team is conducting watermain testing before getting residents back on the permanent water system and off the temporary water system. That work should occur this week. The grading of the street for new concrete curb and gutter and street pavement should be complete this week. Installing concrete curb and gutter is the next step in the reconstruction process. The contractor is trying to confirm concrete availability but with the concrete shortage, timelines are hard to define. Most likely the concrete sidewalk will not be installed this year due to a lack of concrete. Thanks for your patience.

The contractor will be wrapping up installing new underground utility pipes for the water and storm sewer systems by mid-October while at the same time completing roadway grading operations.

All contractors in the Twin Cities have been notified of a concrete shortage by concrete suppliers. City and contractor staff are gathering more information to determine how that may impact this project. The contractor hopes to install concrete curb during the week of Oct. 17 but that is contingent on the concrete supply issue.

The contractor is making great progress installing new underground utility pipes for the water and storm sewer systems. We understand the concerns of residents east of Blake Rd trying to leave their neighborhood or walk their kids to the bus stop west of Blake Rd. The contractor installed signs to provide safer, marked crossings for residents to walk across Blake Rd. Continue to contact the project team if you see things that concern you. Thanks

The private utilities are nearly clear of the site. The city contractor will be starting replacement of the watermain system next week. This will require some short-term water shut-offs. Please check your front doors for flyers with details. Watermain work is scheduled to last 2-weeks followed but underground storm sewer installation. Please continue to be careful when traveling to and from your house. Thanks