A rural intersection in Mt. Iron that has been the site of 10 traffic crashes in the last decade, including one in which two people died, will be reconfigured in 2022 to make it safer. St. Louis County Public Works and the Minnesota Department of Transportation are working on plans to turn the intersection of Highway 169 and Spirit Lake Road (County State Aid Highway 137) into a Reduced Conflict Intersection - also known as a J-turn. The public will have the opportunity to learn more about it through a virtual meeting on Tuesday, October 27, at 6 p.m. Information on how to join the meeting, along with additional details about the project, can be found online at stlouiscountymn.gov/spiritlakeroad. 

 

St. Louis County Public Works has been awarded $281,113 to cover design engineering costs for a series of bridge and culvert projects planned for 2022 and 2023. The funds comes from the state's Motor Vehicle Leased Sales Tax, and will help the County move forward in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) on a series of 21 projects totaling more than $17 million.

Construction on Rice Lake Road in Duluth is wrapping up, and the road is expected to re-open Thursday, August 27, by 5 p.m. The $4 million improvement project involved reconstructing more than half a mile of Rice Lake Road, widening the intersection at Arlington Avenue and Arrowhead Road and making improvements to Technology Drive. 

A small segment of Old U.S. Highway 2 near Morris Thomas Road will close permanently by early September. The short segment, more commonly recognized as the point where Morris Thomas Road crosses the current U.S. Highway 2, was originally expected to close next year as part of an intersection improvement project. However, St. Louis County and the City of Hermantown determined it was best to perform the closure now to avoid delays next spring that would have been required due to the project's proximity to a designated trout stream.

The virtual public meeting is Thursday, Aug. 13, beginning at 6 p.m. Details including the link to participate can be found here: https://glenwood-snively-wsbeng.hub.arcgis.com/