By Deb Kroon
Review Staff Writer
The Highway 91 project is scheduled to begin the week of June 17. An open house was held on Monday, June 10 at the Adrian American Legion for anyone who had questions or concerns about the project and the impact it would have on their lives. Along with representatives from MnDOT, Alex Sweep from Central Specialities, the General Contractor for the project, was available to answer questions and give a short overview of what to expect. Sweep ran through the phases and tentative time frames of the project.
The first phase will start on the south side of Adrian, working north. Trees will come down that have been marked with pink ribbons, as per the open house last year. The trees were looked at by the State Arborist and determined to be unhealthy. It was decided it was easier to take them down now, and the upside is that the cost of removal is not an expense to the homeowner. Next, all sidewalks on Maine Street that are not 5’ wide, and/or broken up, will be removed and replaced. Almost every corner on Maine will get a new ADA compliant facelift (with the exception of the business district that was done some years ago).The retaining wall in the 700 block south will be moved back to allow the sidewalk to be moved to street level and to add room for snow removal. The steps on the 600 block will not be affected by the new sidewalks.
On July 15th, the detour signs will go up beginning at Pearl Street, north to Lismore. Sweep explained that the time schedule for those seven miles is approximately one month. All traffic on the stretch between Adrian and Lismore will be limited to local traffic only. The detour will direct through traffic east on Pearl Street to Highway 15, then north. He explained that the areas that will have to be torn up to access pipes, etc. under ground would be closed off for a small period of time as repairs are made, and at those points all traffic will have to find an alternative route.
The next phase of construction will be north from Lismore to Russell. Sweep stated that this section would take the remainder of the season to complete. There will be crews working from Russell south at the same time, so completion will happen this year.
The middle of September, crews will return to Adrian to resurface Highway 91 through town. The existing road will be milled down about three inches and then will be completely resurfaced. “There will be temporary traffic controls, such as flagmen,” stated Sweep. “If possible, use an alternate access. Be patient” he said. “You will be impacted, but not restricted.”
Postmaster Brenda Paplow along with several rural carriers were on hand with questions on the possible disruption of mail service. They were told that there could possibly be a temporary interruption where mail could not be delivered for maybe a day, but that it would be brief. Most delivery would continue as normal.
Residents expressed concerns about how the new driveway access would match up with the existing driveway. MnDOT had a very detailed satellite map of every home and business on Maine and each individual driveway was looked at and marked according to the needs to make the transition between old and new blend. Any adjustments that will be made for any of the construction will be done on the MnDOT right-away, not the homeowner’s property.
For more information visit www.dot.state.mn.us/d7/projects/hwy91/ or you can call Robert Sneller, Construction Supervisor @ 507-831-8033 or Robert.sneller@state.mn.us
HIGHWAY 91
JUNE 12
