Construction to affect drivers, pedestrians
New improvements to St. Louis Park roads and bridges will cause delays
March 5, 2015
Starting in April, construction equipment will line the stretch of highway 100 and the Minnetonka Boulevard Bridge, hindering drivers and pedestrians.
The construction will be happening for three to five weeks where crews will be working extremely early to reduce noise during the daytime, according to the mystlouispark website.
The goal of this $60 million project is to widen the lanes for improved efficiency, according to Senior Engineering Project Manager Joe Shamla.
“It will be improved safety and improved capacity on the bridge,” Shamla said.
Sophomore Noah Smith said he doesn’t see the purpose of adding another lane.
“There’s really no need and I think it will actually cause more accidents,” Smith said. “It’s going to be really annoying for me and it would be harder to get to school.”
Junior Ora Raymond said she will be affected by the construction, although it won’t be an extreme inconvenience.
“Every week I have to use it to get downtown and I have to leave right after school to get to Macphail for my lesson on time,” Raymond said. “I already have to sit in stop and go traffic for an hour every week trying to get downtown.”
Shamla said the impact will be pretty significant.
“Typically there’s a hundred thousand cars per day that come through there, so the city will be affected,” Shamla said. “The eight minute commute through St. Louis Park will now be approximately 45 minutes.”
