At least until next year
The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) announced today (Thursday, November 16), that the construction on Minnesota Highway #4 in St. James is wrapping up for the season and the detour will be removed tomorrow (Friday, November 17).
Traffic has been detoured since early April. Highway 4 motorists and St. James residents need to plan for another detour to complete the project in 2018. The 2018 detour includes Watonwan County Road #56 (1st Avenue South), Watonwan County Road #55 and Highway 4.
While some concrete pedestrian and driveway work will remain to be done in 2018, at least one side along the length of the project will have a hard-surfaced sidewalk in place for the winter.
The project detour for 2018 is currently expected to begin downtown and then follow the current detour route to the north. The 2018 project work will mainly include the completion of the concrete pedestrian ramp and sidewalk that didn’t get completed this year, along with street and utility reconstruction north of 8th Avenue North in St. James. Permanent lane markings will be placed in 2018 and boulevard trees will be planted also.
S M Hentges & Sons, Inc. of Jordan was awarded the contract with a bid of $15,685,646.
The Highway 4 project, which extends from south of the Watonwan County Fairgrounds to 11th Avenue North, includes utility replacement throughout the project, upgrading sidewalk and pedestrian ramps for safe ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) accessible accommodations, lighting and intersection and access revisions.
More information can be found on the project website at www.mndot.gov/stjames/.
