Downtown Business Council weighs in on Highway 61 phasing

The City of Grand Marais has received word that the Highway 61 reconstruction project has been pushed back on the calendar. As WTIP has reported, the highway reconstruction that was to take place in 2019 and 2020 is now on the Minnesota Department of Transportation calendar for 2020 and 2021.

That gives the city of Grand Marais – and the many businesses impacted by the upcoming road construction – more time to plan for the disruption of traffic.

City officials and members of the Highway 61 Steering Committee recently met with MnDOT to look at alternatives to the original plan in light of the delay. MnDOT presented two options. One option is to simply move the construction dates out a year and proceed as planned with a complete shutdown of Highway 61 through the city in 2021. That would mean a closure from west of the Java Moose coffee shop to Broadway Avenue for much of the summer.

Another option, now possible because of the delay, is to complete the necessary roadwork at 8th Avenue and at the Broadway Avenue intersection in 2020. That would allow those streets to be used for detours and accessibility when the remainder of Highway 61 work is finished in 2021.

Although all of this work is now more than a year away, planning is happening now. WTIP’s Rhonda Silence checked in with the Cook County Chamber’s Downtown Business Coalition to hear their thoughts on the alternatives offered by MnDOT.
 
To see maps and information on the Highway 61 construction phase options, click below. 

Option A map and information

Option B map and information