Overview
The Highway 169 corridor in the Northwest Twin Cities Metro area is an at-risk high priority interregional corridor. It intersects County Highway 81 and County Highway 109(85th Avenue) in Brooklyn Park and Osseo. The three intersections of Highway 169 and County Highway 81; Highway 169 and County Highway 109 (85th Ave); and County Highway 81 and County Highway 109 (85th Ave) form three nodes of a ‘triangle’ of intersections and are referred to as the “triangle”. There are two Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railroad grade crossings located west of the triangle within a short distance of the Highway 169/County Highway 81 and County Highway 81/County Highway 109 (85th Ave) intersections.
The intersections at Highway 169 and CountyHighway 81 along with Highway 169 and County Highway 109 (85th Ave) are among the most congested signalized intersections in the Twin Cities Metropolitan area. The two railroad crossings near the congested signalized “triangle’ area adds to the driving challenge through the area. The intersection of Highway 169 and County Highway 81 ranks sixth and the Highway 169/County Highway 109 (85th Ave) intersection ranks third on the 2005 Statewide Top 200 Crash Cost Intersections list. With increased traffic volumes forecast within the next twenty years, the current amount of delay and congestion is expected to increase significantly further degrading traffic safety through the area.
Based on two studies completed in 1998 and 2003, it was proposed to build Highway 169 over the top of County Highway 81, County Highway 109 (85th Ave) and the BNSF railroad tracks in the south end of the triangle enabling Highway 169 traffic to move unimpeded through the “triangle’ area. The project began in July 2008, details of the improvements include:
- Two lanes on north and southbound Highway 169;
- Auxiliary lanes for north and southbound Highway 169;
- A ramp to carry southbound Highway 169 to southbound County Hwy 81 over County Highway (85th Ave) and County Highway 81;
- A ramp from northbound County Highway 81 to northbound Highway 169; and
- A diamond interchange at Highway 169 and County Highway 109 (85th Ave) and Highway 169 bridges over County Highway 109 (85th Ave), County Highway 81 and the BNSF railroad tracks. This will preserve existing access to the area from Highway 169, County Highway 81 and County Highway 109 (85th Ave).
In 2007, the start of the construction was deferred two years from summer 2007 to summer 2009 due to financial constraints. However, with the availability of recent funding, Mn/DOT will begin construction of this project in July 2008 and plans to complete the project by July 2011.
The current construction cost of the project is estimated to be around $53 million.