[0:00] Good morning everybody. Vernon Avenue

[0:02] and Highway 100 interchange project

[0:04] update meeting number 12. Just a

[0:07] reminder that we are recording these and

[0:09] we'll post them online afterwards. So

[0:12] I'm Chad Milner, engineering director.

[0:14] Thanks for joining us. Uh thanks for

[0:16] your patience. The project continues to

[0:18] move forward. Businesses are open and

[0:20] accessible. Of course with construction

[0:23] comes noise, dust, and vibrations. Um

[0:26] stop for pedestrians and crosswalks. We

[0:28] still have uh school started. So, we

[0:31] have a lot more people and kids and

[0:33] students using Eden Avenue, specifically

[0:36] Benton Avenue. There's crosswalks, kids

[0:38] going to school. Make sure we're being

[0:41] safe, courteous, and not only the

[0:43] pedestrians, but also the fellow

[0:45] drivers. So, please be patient. If

[0:48] you're not comfortable with that midb

[0:49] block crossing at uh Eden Avenue, please

[0:53] use the fully controlled traffic signal

[0:55] at Vernon and Eden instead.

[0:59] These are the project goals. Um again,

[1:02] it's to improve safety, mobility, create

[1:05] separated pedestrian routes, improve

[1:07] traffic operations,

[1:09] and the other ones there listed. We have

[1:12] the project schedule listed there. The

[1:14] com substantial completion date and

[1:17] reopening November 15, 2025. Um I can

[1:21] say that

[1:23] good good portion of the project will be

[1:25] reopened, but uh the Vernon Avenue

[1:27] bridge will not be done by November

[1:29] 15th. So that's an issue we'll talk

[1:31] about here a little bit more.

[1:34] This is the project again. It starts

[1:36] just west of Interlockan Boulevard. has

[1:38] the Vernon Avenue Bridge over the CPKC

[1:41] rail line. Then the Highway 100 bridge

[1:44] over Highway 100 that spans

[1:47] uh carries 50th Street and Vernon Avenue

[1:52] and then ends just near Graange Road on

[1:54] the east side.

[1:57] We've been doing all these communication

[1:59] channels for residents and businesses.

[2:02] uh continue to look for those, continue

[2:04] to push out that information. If people

[2:06] have questions, better together.org,

[2:10] visit the Vernon Highway 100 project

[2:12] page. That is your best spot to find

[2:15] information as we continue to move

[2:18] forward this fall.

[2:21] We have some big detours coming, so

[2:22] we're creating a special business

[2:26] outreach. So we want anybody that's

[2:28] associated with businesses to please

[2:30] fill out a survey. So go to this website

[2:33] edinaamn.gov

[2:36] businessup support and fill out the

[2:39] survey if you interested. But we are

[2:41] going to support the Grand View and 50th

[2:43] and France businesses this fall. We're

[2:45] going to have the worth the detour

[2:47] passport. So, it'll be a loyalty program

[2:50] where customers can collect stamps when

[2:52] you shop and dine at participating

[2:55] businesses and then enter to win gift

[2:56] cards at those favorite local spots. We

[3:00] want to thank the Explory Dina for their

[3:03] support.

[3:04] So, there's also going to be a

[3:06] restaurant week social media contest and

[3:09] a free familyfriendly movie on select

[3:13] Saturday mornings at the Dina Theater.

[3:15] So again, find all the details at better

[3:18] together.org. And if you're a specific

[3:20] business, go to that other website and

[3:22] fill out a survey. We did mail out

[3:24] letters to many of the businesses in

[3:27] both the Grand View and the 50th in

[3:29] France districts. So thank you and

[3:32] please fill out the survey.

[3:35] Construction details, uh, Interlock and

[3:37] Verdon, that's still a free flow

[3:39] intersection there. It's working and

[3:41] operating. We've got questions of can we

[3:44] open up Gus Young Lane by the Dino

[3:46] Liquor Store. We're hoping to have a

[3:48] crane there at any moment to start

[3:50] working on that west abutment. We did

[3:52] open it. We'd have to have either a

[3:54] four-way stop or a temporary signal. Um,

[3:58] and that would really, I think, impact

[4:00] traffic operations on this intersection.

[4:02] So unless we learn something that this

[4:04] is going to be a much longer closure, at

[4:08] this point we're going to leave it as is

[4:10] and prepare to place a crane and other

[4:12] equipment there to work on that west

[4:14] abutment.

[4:17] And why aren't we working on that west

[4:19] abupment? It's because the XL power line

[4:21] was as shown here and circled in green

[4:24] was in a different spot than originally

[4:27] uh thought. was hit in May and Excel

[4:31] Energy and TPKC Rail are continue to

[4:35] work on permits and agreements. We do

[4:36] not have it. They're working on it. I

[4:38] thought it would be done early to mid

[4:40] August. We have no control over these

[4:43] two agencies. Uh and it's major impact

[4:46] of schedule andor cost. and we still

[4:48] don't know what those are because until

[4:50] we actually get a permit and the

[4:52] contractor can start working. We can't

[4:55] put together any of those timing details

[4:57] or cost potential details. So, we're

[5:01] just in a waiting pattern. We're all

[5:03] contacting them. The mayor's contacting

[5:05] individuals. We're trying to get this

[5:07] move forward. um should have been

[5:10] corrected long time ago in my opinion

[5:12] and it's not and we're doing everything

[5:14] we can but this bridge will not be done

[5:16] November 15th. Uh we're just past that

[5:19] timing now. So until we know when this

[5:21] work can occur, updated schedules won't

[5:25] be developed. There's kind of

[5:27] potentially two options where they work

[5:30] uh straight through into the winter and

[5:33] heat and heat everything to do the

[5:35] concrete work, but there's a cost with

[5:37] that. order they go away and come back

[5:38] in the spring to finish. So, those are

[5:41] the two options we're looking at once we

[5:43] know when they can actually start.

[5:47] Road closures and detours. We have a big

[5:49] kind of the last detour stage four

[5:53] coming up. This is probably going to be

[5:54] the most impactful. Um and it's going to

[5:58] start on Monday, September 15th. So, all

[6:01] offramps

[6:03] are going to be closed on the 15th.

[6:08] So, if you're coming southbound on 100

[6:10] and use that Arcadia exit, that will be

[6:12] closed. That'll be a new closure. You're

[6:15] heading northbound and you take the exit

[6:17] to Graange Road, that will be closed.

[6:20] So, these three red X's will be new

[6:23] closures. The blue one was already been

[6:25] in place for a few weeks. We're updating

[6:28] our maps on the website and the

[6:29] interactive GIS map. Those will be

[6:31] updated soon. Um, but that's a big

[6:36] impact that's going to start September

[6:38] 15th and until until the mid- November

[6:42] date so they can build all these new

[6:43] ramps.

[6:45] What has been happening and will

[6:46] continue to happen this week is the

[6:48] Highway 100 bridge uh the gurners are

[6:50] going up the beams. So this first week

[6:52] of September been happening overnight.

[6:55] Northbound happened

[6:58] Tuesday and Wednesday night. Now

[7:00] southbound will happen Thursday and

[7:02] Friday night. So hopefully all the beams

[7:04] will be placed uh by this weekend.

[7:10] Uh again, we're going to create those

[7:12] detour maps for that stage four, but

[7:14] Benton Avenue, we've seen more traffic.

[7:15] We know the schools started Mindat

[7:18] turned the timing off on the on-ramp

[7:20] signal, so that helped a lot with some

[7:22] of those impacts. Uh the detours are

[7:24] going to be up to Excelsier and east and

[7:27] west down the highway 62 in east and

[7:30] west kind of the regional detours and

[7:32] there's going to be some more local

[7:33] detours. So look for those maps coming

[7:35] very soon on that stage 4 which starts

[7:38] in about a week and a half.

[7:41] We know there's a project going on

[7:43] Highway 100. This is a mindot

[7:44] maintenance project. They're doing

[7:46] overhead sign work. Um they closed the

[7:49] inside lanes. It's been closed for

[7:51] weeks. It's creating traffic issues.

[7:54] We ask when they're going to be done. It

[7:56] was anticipated to be done yesterday. I

[7:58] can't find anything whether it is or

[8:00] isn't done. Go to their website and that

[8:03] website hasn't been updated until August

[8:05] 12th. So, I haven't driven up there

[8:07] today. I don't know if it's closed or

[8:09] still underway. I'm hoping it's done um

[8:12] because that was creating some issues,

[8:14] but again, that's not related to our

[8:16] project at all. Um the timing is just

[8:19] unfortunate and MDOT's doing their

[8:21] maintenance work there on those overhead

[8:23] signs.

[8:26] Other things in the area. So 5100 even

[8:29] Eden Avenue. This was a development

[8:31] project. Last time or last couple

[8:33] meetings we talked about the sidewalk

[8:35] detour that's shown on the lefthand

[8:37] side. They built a temporary sidewalk on

[8:39] the west side of Arcadia and closed the

[8:41] sidewalk starting at the historic

[8:43] properties on the east side of Highway

[8:45] 100. The blue dash line is that detour

[8:48] for the sidewalks. They started demo on

[8:51] Tuesday. So, here's a picture where

[8:52] they're starting to bring that building

[8:54] down. That work has started this week to

[8:58] demo that existing 5100 building.

[9:03] In other pictures, uh this is the you're

[9:06] looking east

[9:08] by the Devanis. This is the Vernon

[9:10] Avenue bridge. You can see the east

[9:12] abupman is done and ready. Here's that

[9:15] west side. The old one is still in

[9:16] place. So that's a Excel power line and

[9:18] we're just waiting for that. So uh this

[9:21] is the major concern right now with

[9:23] schedule. This is a updated picture of

[9:26] that area.

[9:28] This is that free flowing intersection

[9:30] at Interlockan in Vernon that stays the

[9:32] same.

[9:34] This is the retaining wall at Hawthorne

[9:36] Court near the Hawthorne Apartment. So

[9:38] the picture on the left was from a few

[9:40] weeks ago. Picture on the right was a

[9:42] recent picture from this week. So, the

[9:44] wall construction keeps going forward.

[9:48] And then the overnight work that

[9:50] started, these are pictures from Tuesday

[9:52] night. So, uh, the left picture is, it's

[9:55] hard to see, but the crane is hoisting

[9:57] up those beams. This was the first one.

[10:00] Middle bottom picture is it's almost in

[10:03] place. And then a closeup of as they

[10:05] literally touch that down onto the

[10:07] abupments uh for that first first beam

[10:11] on Tuesday night.

[10:13] And then picture on the left is number

[10:15] two coming into place. You can see how

[10:17] they were hoisting that up with the

[10:18] crane in the background.

[10:20] Some other pictures where there's almost

[10:22] eight of them in place that night. So

[10:24] you can see the different all of them

[10:27] spanning northbound 100.

[10:32] And here's how they brought them in.

[10:33] They brought them in with a big long

[10:34] truck. The crane picks them off and then

[10:38] places them onto those abupments. So,

[10:42] northbound should be done. I haven't

[10:43] heard here this morning. Southbound,

[10:46] it's going to happen tonight, tomorrow

[10:47] night.

[10:50] Then here's what it looks like during

[10:51] the day. So, the picture on the left is

[10:53] those first eight placed on Tuesday

[10:56] night. And then the picture on the right

[10:59] is just a different view of showing

[11:00] those in place. And it's good to see

[11:03] shadows on the highway. That means the

[11:04] deck is starting to be constructed.

[11:09] The other major thing that's going on is

[11:10] that noise wall along the

[11:13] northbound on-ramp from 50th Street. So

[11:16] the picture on the left was from a few

[11:17] weeks ago. They were just getting

[11:18] started. Picture on the right, you can

[11:20] see all those concrete posts that are

[11:22] going to support that noise wall

[11:24] basically from Miniha Creek up to 50th

[11:26] Street. So they are continuing to put

[11:29] the poles in and then the planking will

[11:30] be coming in a few weeks and they'll

[11:33] start installing the planking on that

[11:35] noise wall.

[11:38] And then just another picture of the

[11:39] operations of installing those concrete

[11:42] noise wall posts.

[11:46] And then the graphics and rendering of

[11:47] what this will look like. So it's

[11:49] getting closer and closer all the time.

[11:51] You're getting to this for the high 100

[11:52] bridge. The picture on the left is a

[11:54] view of the of the deck of the Highway

[11:57] 100 bridge. The picture on the right is

[12:00] from the Highway 100 itself. as you

[12:03] would pass underneath the bridge heading

[12:04] northbound. You can start to see the

[12:06] beams that were placed the other night.

[12:08] Um, and this will be completely placed

[12:11] here over the next couple nights. So,

[12:12] we're starting to get to this image for

[12:14] the project.

[12:19] So, with that, I'll look at the chat. If

[12:21] people have questions, please enter them

[12:24] into the chat. I'm happy to answer those

[12:26] questions. You can always call me and

[12:28] email me or Derek. We're happy to answer

[12:30] questions, come visit with you, whatever

[12:32] the case may be. So, any questions?

[12:37] And I just remind any of the businesses

[12:40] if there's interest in participating in

[12:42] that worth the detour passport thing,

[12:45] may remember to fill out that survey

[12:48] so we know you're interested and we'll

[12:50] work with communications and get that

[12:52] started.

[12:57] Any questions?

[13:08] quiet group.

[13:10] See somebody type typing. So just wait a

[13:13] second.

[13:27] Uh looked like somebody was typing.

[13:28] Maybe not. Oh, look like it might be

[13:30] coming back.

[13:34] Uh even though let's see here's a

[13:36] question. Crane on Gus Young will wait

[13:40] and to agree then work will begin on the

[13:43] western abupment. Yeah, we no work can

[13:45] start. I mean, if we could have started,

[13:46] we would have had Excel move that line

[13:48] and we asked them to do it in May, just

[13:50] temporarily do something, but railroad

[13:53] wouldn't let them do it, and they

[13:54] weren't willing to work without a permit

[13:56] in the railroad. So, yeah, Gus Young

[13:58] will be for crane and other heavy

[14:00] equipment to build that western abupment

[14:02] soon as that permit is in hand between

[14:05] those two parties. Um,

[14:14] and even though that bridge may not be

[14:17] ready by November 15th, our intention is

[14:19] still to open up the Highway 100 bridge,

[14:22] the on andoff ramps there, the get

[14:24] everything active and operational along

[14:26] Highway 100 and open up as much as we

[14:28] can,

[14:30] as soon as we can. And then we'll deal

[14:32] with the Vernon Avenue Bridge and those

[14:34] schedules and that impact once we've

[14:37] finally learn more here between Excel

[14:39] and the railroad.

[14:46] Other questions,

[14:49] comments?

[14:53] Visit the website. We'll be updating

[14:54] some maps. Every time we do a big stage

[14:56] detour change, we send out specific maps

[15:00] to the businesses right at the area

[15:04] there. So, look for some of those emails

[15:05] coming from me. All those maps are

[15:07] posted on the website if other

[15:08] businesses just want to print those and

[15:10] give them to customers. Um, look for

[15:12] that passport program that we're

[15:15] creating right now for the businesses in

[15:17] both districts, Grand View and 50th in

[15:20] France.

[15:21] Um, but September 15th, it's going to be

[15:24] a big day when those ramps close early

[15:27] in the morning. People are going to have

[15:29] to find different routes to access this

[15:31] area. Benton Avenue will still have

[15:33] those the one off-ramp for southbound

[15:37] and on-ramp for northbound.

[15:40] But to get into these areas, you're

[15:41] going to have to come from Highway 62

[15:43] and either use the Valley View exit,

[15:46] France Avenue, or on the west side,

[15:48] Tracy Avenue or Gleon. Um on the north,

[15:52] Excelsier Boulevard coming down Wooddale

[15:55] or Brookside. So you're just going to

[15:57] have to use some other avenues. Blake

[15:59] Road and Interlockan from Hopkins is an

[16:01] option.

[16:05] So let your employees and customers and

[16:07] yourself find some routes there for

[16:10] September 15th.

[16:17] Other questions? I see somebody typing.

[16:21] Why wouldn't we open Gus Young until we

[16:22] have some kind of timing? Because we'd

[16:24] have to install a temporary signal andor

[16:28] four-way stops. And we think that would

[16:30] really gnarly up traffic even worse when

[16:34] we know that the hope is that there's a

[16:36] crane there very soon. So if it starts

[16:39] to become more long-term, then we'll

[16:41] look at potentially opening up Gus

[16:43] Young. But at this point, our hope and

[16:46] intention and the draft language we got

[16:48] from those two pe two agencies is that

[16:50] this is going to have a permit any day

[16:53] now. So um so it comes to

[16:58] construction needs for space and traffic

[17:01] operations of that intersection.

[17:04] Thanks for the question.

[17:12] Okay, again my info is on the website.

[17:16] There's further questions just send me

[17:17] an email or give me a call. Appreciate

[17:20] everybody's time. We'll get this posted

[17:22] and we'll post the slides on the website

[17:24] if you want to share that out with

[17:25] anybody at your organization.

[17:29] Thank you.