Orange cones and hard hats will join the lanes of backed-up cars on Highway 100 in the future, as construction will eventually begin to improve the highway.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) is proposing an $80 million project to reconstruct several areas of Highway 100 between West 36th and West 26th streets beginning in 2014.

MnDOT west area engineer April Crockett projects construction to begin in late summer 2014.

“We still need to finalize the geometric layout and receive city consent, but this is something we’ve been working on for a couple years now so I expect the project to move pretty smoothly,” Crockett said. “Our target date to be done would be 2016.”

Crockett said many drivers experience the rush hour traffic in the area with multiple on and off ramps converging on St. Louis Park’s main highway in a relatively short distance. Crockett said her other goals are to meet basic infrastructure deficiencies and to improve the safety of those interchanges.

The main changes include total reconstruction of the Minnetonka Boulevard and Highway 7 interchanges, providing three lanes of through traffic in each direction to improve flow.

Also, following the 2007 collapse of the I-35 W bridge in Minneapolis, the state government conducted a report on bridges and overpasses in 2008. The Minnetonka Boulevard and Highway 7 bridges were reported deficient and in need of replacement.

Sophomore Bessie Bulman said she thinks the potential construction would be worth it in the long run.

“I drive on the Highway 7 overpass over Highway 100 every day on my way to school,” Bulman said. “It would make the drive smoother and save gas so you’re not stopped at a light for minutes at a time.”