Metro District Lane Closure Manual

Request a Lane or Shoulder Closure in the Metro District

The Allowable Lane Closure Manual is used when planning and scheduling lane and/or shoulder closures on MnDOT owned and operated roadways. Please complete the following steps to request a lane or shoulder closure.

Step 1: Lane Closure Manual

Check the Allowable Lane Closure Reports to determine if a lane closure is allowed during the desired day and time. The Allowable Lane Closure Reports determine the appropriate time of day for planned lane closures based on number of available lanes and traffic count data  (See Appendix). If a lane closure is not allowed, contact the appropriate Metro District Work Zone Supervisor to discuss. 

Step 2: Sensitive Routes

Check the Impact Sensitive Routes Map to determine if the proposed lane closure is within an impact sensitive area. This map is a large data set of previously planned project and detour route locations and schedules. If the work is within an impact sensitive area, contact the appropriate Metro District Work Zone Supervisor to discuss. 

• The Metro Impact Sensitive Routes Map is maintained by Metro Traffic. The information is based on input from the Metro Traffic Work Zone unit and State Aid.

Step 3: Lane Closure Form

Complete a Metro District Lane Closure Form.

• The Lane Closure Form is a one page document for listing pertinent information about the purposed/requested lane closure.
• Metro Traffic recently updated the form for relevance.

Step 4: Submit Lane Closure Form

The Lane Closure Form submittal is REQUIRED at least 3 business days prior to to the proposed closure (This is a work in progress since there are existing contracts that only specify 2 days.) A full weekend closure REQUIRES 14 days advance notice.

• Monday closure - Form submitted by previous Wednesday, 9:00 a.m.
• Tuesday closure - Form submitted by previous Thursday, 9:00 a.m.
• Wednesday closure - Form submitted by previous Friday, 9:00 a.m.
• Thursday closure - Form submitted by previous Monday, 9:00 a.m.
• Friday closure - Form submitted by previous Tuesday, 9:00a.m.

Submit the completed Metro District Lane Closure Form to MetroLC.DOT@state.mn.us. See the form for more details. For additional help or information, please contact the appropriate Metro District Work Zone Supervisor to discuss.

• The form is received by Metro Maintenance Dispatch who enters it into 511MN.org. At this point Maintenance Dispatch is looking for conflicts or issues.
• Once the data has been entered in MN511.org, Metro Traffic reviews the closures and attempts to mitigate any conflicts that may occur.
• For the most part, closures are allowed/approved/granted/awarded based on a first come, first serve basis.
• Metro staff will be holding a weekly Monday meeting to discuss the upcoming planned closures. This group consists of Central Office and Metro District Construction, State Aid, Public Affairs, RTMC, Maintenance, and Traffic.

Complete list of Metro District Lane Closure Reports

Important!

• Shoulder closures are not allowed between 6 a.m. to 9 a.m. or between 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., unless the Allowable Lane Closure Report indicates at least one lane may be closed.
• These reports do not cover auxiliary lanes, ramps, or loops. If lane closures are needed in a location not addressed by these reports, then the Metro District Work Zone Supervisor should be contacted. Any other questions about special event impacts and public notification requirements should also be referred to Metro District Work Zone Supervisors. Questions about traffic data should be directed to Metro District Traffic Engineering or the RTMC.
  
• If a requested lane closures overlaps two or more adjacent report segments, please use the most restrictive report segment. 
• Lane closures allowed by this manual are typically short term (12 hours or less) and will not divert or detour traffic. Advance notice signs (installed days in advance of a closure/project) are not typically required for lane closures allowed by this manual. The Temporary Traffic Control Field Manual from the Minnesota Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MnMUTCD) provides information on typical traffic control layouts, which may be used during a lane closure.
• This manual is not intended to apply to emergency road maintenance and repairs that must be performed without planning. The judgment of field staff and necessity of the situation should determine the course of action in emergency situations and Metro Maintenance Dispatch should be notified. 
• To view sections of the Lane Closure Manual, click on the appropriate individual link in the index (below). To return to this page to download additional roadway files, click the back arrow in the upper left corner of your browser window.

Metro District Impact Sensitive Routes