One of the final stages of the reconstruction of County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 3 between Crosslake and Fifty Lakes is set to begin today.
The contractor, Anderson Brothers Construction Company, will pave the six-mile stretch beginning at CSAH 1 in Fifty Lakes continuing south.
The paving should be completed by Sept. 19, weather permitting, according to a Friday press release from the Crow Wing County Highway Department.
"Miscellaneous work on entrances, signing, pavement markings, mailboxes, shouldering, seeding and clean-up will continue through the end of September and early October," the press release stated.
Some of the new signage will include chevron signs, the arrow signs placed on curves. The county recently shared that these signs have been shown to significantly reduce off-the-road crashes on county roads.
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Traffic will continue to be detoured via CSAH 66 and CSAH 1, and drivers should expect delays.
The CSAH 3 project, part of the county's five year highway improvement plan, consisted of grading, paving, horizontal and vertical alignment enhancements and drainage improvements. The rebuild will also improve sight distances in accordance with state standards. Driving lanes will be expanded to 12 feet wide with eight-foot shoulders, and turn and bypass lanes will be installed in areas with higher traffic volumes.
"They (drivers) will notice the wider right-of-way, better visibility ... and better sight distances," said Mark Melby, project manager.
In the face of weather challenges this spring and summer, the project is ahead of schedule as far as the highway department is concerned.
"All grading projects have their challenges," Melby said. "You always run into unexpected circumstances, but it's gone pretty well. We were always hopeful that it would all be paved by Labor Day, but to start paving this early in September is a good thing."
In April, the county published a schedule submitted by the contractor that said the project would be completed by Labor Day. A late spring thaw, heavy rain events and unexpected delays in getting utility lines out of the way have pushed the project timeline back a bit, Melby said.
The project appears to be on track to meet the county's expected completion date of October 15. The contract with Anderson Brothers included 100 working days. Days where weather prevents road work are not counted against that total.
"Working days (started) April 15," Melby said. "You count 100 days and assume maybe a couple weeks or 10 days for weather, that would have put things into October for a completion date. So I think we're ahead of schedule."
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Melby said he hopes the public will understand that a complete reconstruction project such as the one on CSAH 3 poses challenges.
"Everybody is doing their best to get it completed as quickly as possible," he said. "We want to build a road that will last for many years to come, so we want to do it right and take our time."
