Vernon Avenue & Highway 100 Interchange Project

Thank you for your patience during the first few weeks of the road closure. Remember businesses are open and accessible. All vehicles should be following the detour and taking a right from eastbound Interlachen to Vernon Avenue unless you’re visiting the local businesses. The Vernon Ave Bridge is tentatively scheduled for removal May 8 – May 12 and the Highway 100 Bridge is tentatively scheduled for removal May 16 – May 19. The Vernon Ave Bridge removal will occur during normal working hours. The Highway 100 Bridge removal will occur over a weekend closure of Highway 100. Work will most likely occur 24-hrs during that weekend closure.

1. On May 14, the on-ramp to northbound Highway100 from Grange Rd will be closed and remain closed until further notice, most likely mid-summer. This closure allows the contractor to prep for the full Highway 100 closure for the weekend of May 16 - 19 to remove the Highway 100 Bridge safely. The ramp is too close to the work area to allow for safe traffic operations and safe construction activities following removal of the bridge. Recall the on-ramp to northbound Highway 100 from 50^th Street will still be open before and after bridge removal operations over the weekend closure.
2. During the Highway 100 weekend closure, access to northbound Highway 100 from 50^th Street will need to be closed during the removal operations over the weekend closure. A detour to access northbound Highway 100 is being created now. The access to southbound Highway 100 will be maintained from Eden Avenue on the west side of Highway 100.
3. At dates yet to be determined, the Interlachen Blvd with Vernon Ave Intersection work area will be adjusted. The adjustment will shrink the area available for traffic operations, but it will IMPROVE traffic operations. It will improve traffic operations because the stop light will be taken out of service to allow for free flow traffic between Interlachen Blvd and Vernon Ave. During this adjustment, Gus Young Lane will be closed to thru traffic from Interlachen Blvd. Closing Gus Young Lane should improve traffic operations at the southbound Highway 100 off-ramp at Arcadia Avenue and expediate the construction of that intersection.

Thank you for your patience during the first week of the road closure. Remember businesses are open and accessible. All vehicles should be following the detour and taking a right from eastbound Interlachen to Vernon Avenue unless you’re visiting the local businesses. The removal of the noise wall along Vernon Ave is scheduled to start tomorrow, Weds, April 30. The Vernon Ave Bridge is tentatively scheduled for removal May 8 – May 12 and the Highway 100 Bridge is tentatively scheduled for removal May 16 – May 19. The Vernon Ave Bridge removal will occur during normal working hours. The Highway 100 Bridge removal will occur over a weekend closure of Highway 100. Work will most likely occur 24-hrs during that weekend closure. In preparation of the weekend closure of Highway 100, there will be some lane closures between 10am – 2pm to prep the center median for the work. The next Highway Talk is May 1 at 11 am. Edinamn.gov/Highway100Talks to participate. Thanks.

Grandview Businesses and the 50^th & France District are open for business during construction. Vernon Avenue was closed on April 23. The first week or so is always the most chaotic as travelers find different ways to get to their places. Please be patience. Staff is monitoring traffic. Adjustments have already been made to assist movements. Adjustments are being made to the Interlachen traffic signal. Regulatory detour signs are up. In addition to all the material on the website for businesses to help keep employees and customers informed, the City is fabricating custom directional signs. These signs will help direct traffic to the Grandview Businesses and the 50^th & France District. Those signs will be installed late this week or early next week. Construction will slowly ramp up over the course of the first few weeks. Equipment will be delivered, and concrete jackhammering will begin late next week. The contractor will be using the city's parcel at 5146 Eden Avenue for equipment, materials, and employee parking. Our next Highway Talk is May 1 at 11 am. If you're signing up for the text messages for unexpected changes or disruptions, be sure to enter the text without any spaces. Text HIGHWAY100-RESIDENT to 844-929-4328 and Text HIGHWAY100-BUSINESS to 844-929-4328. Thanks. Chad Millner, City Engineer.

Road Closure beginning April 23: Vernon Avenue and 50^th Street between Interlachen Blvd and Grange Road with the exception of the on- and off-ramps to Highway 100 will close on April 23. The Grandview Businesses and the 50^th & France Business District are open and accessible during the project. Signs for the detours will be placed Monday and Tuesday, April 21 & 22. Eden Avenue will be the main east-west street. Construction will slowly ramp up over the course of the first few weeks. Equipment will be delivered and concrete jackhammering will begin late next week. The contractor will be using the city's parcel at 5146 Eden Avenue for equipment, materials, and employee parking. A recording of the Online Project Talk from April 17 can be found here. Thanks, Chad Millner, City Engineer.

Road Closure beginning April 23: Vernon Avenue and 50^th Street between Interlachen Blvd and Grange Road with the exception of the on- and off-ramps to Highway 100 will close on April 23. The Grandview Businesses and the 50^th & France Business District are open and accessible during the project. The local detours are shown here. Remember to log in April 17 at 11 am here to learn more about the project. Thanks, Chad Millner, City Engineer.

The Vernon Avenue and Highway 100 Interchange Project is scheduled to start April 21. The contractor is targeting April 23 to close Vernon Avenue and 50^th Street between Interlachen Blvd and Grange Road with the exception of the on and off-ramps to Highway 100. Remember to log in April 17 at 11 am to learn more about the project at EdinaMN.gov/Highway100Talks or EdinaMN.gov/highway100talks. This is a re-occurring meeting Thursday mornings every other week during the project. A recap of the April 3 meeting can be found here.

Recap: Vernon / 50th Interchange Project Bi-Weekly Public Meeting Thursday, April 3.

Thanks, Chad Millner, City Engineer.

PowerPoint Slides can be found in the document area linked here.

https://www.bettertogetheredina.org/20963/widgets/69150/documents/66396

Tree removals for the project have been completed. Staff provided a project update at the April 1 City Council Works Session. We discussed schedule, management of traffic, communications, and funding. We will be asking council to award a contract to Ames Construction on April 16. The exact schedule is still being developed but will be available soon. Remember to log in tomorrow at 11 am to learn more about the project at EdinaMN.gov/Highway100Talks or EdinaMN.gov/highway100talks. This is the first of many Thursday morning meetings available every other week during the project. Thanks, Chad Millner, City Engineer.

Come learn about the upcoming Vernon Avenue & Highway 100 Interchange Project. City Engineer Chad Millner will host a virtual public meeting. All are welcome to join this 30-minute meeting. The first meeting will occur on April 3 at 11 am. This meeting will re-occur every 2-weeks until the project is completed on Thursdays at 11 am. To participate, type either of the following addresses into a web browser.

EdinaMN.gov/Highway100Talks

EdinaMN.gov/highway100talks

A big milestone was completed on Thursday, March 13, construction bids were received. We received two bids for construction of the project. They were from Ames Construction at $22.06 million and C.S. McCrossan at $22.45 million. These were at the engineers estimate. The state is reviewing the required contracting paperwork. If everything meets the requirements, we will ask the City Council to award a contract on April 16. The schedule that was included in the bid documents required Vernon Ave and 50^th Street to be re-opened to traffic by November 15, 2025. We are still discussing schedule with the contractor.

The City Council awarded a tree removal contract last night. Removals are tentatively planned for the last two weeks of March. Due to the delay caused by CPKS Railroad in signing an easement agreement, a separate contract for tree removals is required. The trees need to be removed before March 31. This contract will remove all the necessary trees to make space for the new bridges, highway interchange and noise walls. The highway interchange project is out to bid now with an anticipated award date of April 16. Trees are located along Highway 100 near City Hall, adjacent to the northbound Highway 100 on-ramp, around both the Highway 100 and Vernon Ave bridges and near CPKC Railroad tracks. A copy of the tree removal plans is posted to the documents area of this website. Thanks, Chad Millner, City Engineer