They were laying down blacktop by the ton Monday and, if it doesn’t get too cold or rain too much this week, Highland Street in West Duluth will reopen to traffic at 5 p.m. Friday.
The $11.3 million project has seen the major artery between western Duluth neighborhoods and the Miller Hill Mall-Hermantown area closed since early May.
It’s one of the largest projects ever led by the St. Louis County Public Works Department - second only to the $12 million Haines Road project completed last year.
Both projects were scheduled for reconstruction before the June 2012 flood, but the floodwaters wreaked havoc along the slopes and ravines of western Duluth where the two roads are perched, raising the project’s priority to urgent.
Crews from Duluth-based Northland Constructors were busy Monday adding topsoil to the steep banks along the new roadway and tightening giant bolts on the guardrails along the newly aligned and resurfaced road and on top of the new 183-foot bridge over Keene Creek - the largest single-span suspension bridge in Minnesota.
Heavy rollers flattened the last 2 inches of a 6-inch base of blacktop needed before traffic is allowed on the roadway.
“It’s been quite a project. There have been some surprises, like a lot more rock than we thought (under the roadbed).
And there was a rebar shortage for a time this summer, that was a challenge,’’ said Steve Krasaway, project engineer for the county. “But Northland has had hundreds of guys out here working six days a week all summer, 60 or 70 hours each week, and they are going to have it done on time to get traffic back on here by 5 on Friday.’’
The project has realigned Highland Street (otherwise known as County Road 89) where it crosses Skyline Boulevard and Vinland Street, reworking what used to be a confusing five-way intersection to a traditional four-way. The western portion of Skyline now runs into Vinland just west of Highland to keep traffic flowing better.
Traffic on Highland will not stop at the new intersection at Skyline/Vinland, Krasaway noted.
“They’ll stop if they are driving on Skyline and Vinland. We’re going to do a traffic study on this whole stretch of roadway in 2015. We’ll see what happens. But we’re going to start with no stop signs on Highland and see how it works,’’ Krasaway said.
The entire project totaled about 3.5 miles.
Downhill, the stretch of 57th Avenue West from Cody Street to Oneota Cemetery has been open since October after all new utilities and a new roadway was resurfaced with new curbs and gutters. There’s also a four-way stop at the intersection of 57th and Eighth Street West, and the railroad underpass near the cemetery has been raised (actually rock was blasted and the road was lowered) to allow big trucks to pass underneath in a spot where several had become stuck or had to turn around, Krasaway noted.
Uphill, above Skyline, the rest of County Highway 89, about 1.9 miles of Getchell and Stebner roads from Skyline Parkway to Morris Thomas Road in Hermantown, was resurfaced and has reopened. The intersection of Skyline-Vinland and Highland re-opened in late September.
The new bridge includes a new underpass for the Superior Hiking Trail where it crosses the road and Keene Creek. So hikers no longer have to jump the guardrail and cross the busy road that on average sees nearly 6,000 vehicles per day. The county also is adding an 18-car parking lot for hikers to use after watching many cars parked at a temporary lot even as construction waged on.
“It is one of those build-it-and-they-will-come ideas that actually worked,’’ Krasaway said.
The county also will repair an old concrete bridge used by foot traffic near the intersection.
“It’s not our responsibility technically, but we felt we needed to do it to finish the project right,’’ Krasaway said.
The county project also includes a new sidewalk from western Duluth to the Superior Hiking Trail and 8-foot shoulders along Highland’s two traffic lanes. There will be turning lanes now at the intersection with Skyline/Vinland.
More than 175 new trees will be planted along the entire project, with some already in the ground along the 57th Avenue West portion where more than 50 big, old silver maples had to be cut down.
“People along 57th had concerns about losing those big old trees. But once they saw how much work had to be done to get the new utilities in and resurface the road, most people could see why the trees just wouldn’t make it,’’ Krasaway said.
All road signs are up, but permanent road striping won’t be done until next spring. Some detail work will continue this month along the road, with some shoulder closures, but the road will remain open.
Finishing touches - including sidewalks, landscaping, bridge painting, additional trees and seeding along the ditches - will be finished next spring, with the last work completed by July, Krasaway said.
In addition to the road work, the county also rehabilitated an old gravel pit just to the west of the Highland/Skyline intersection. The pit had been left vacant since the original construction of Highland Street decades ago, Krasaway said, and had become a bit of a dumping ground for garbage and junk. This year, crews took excess dirt and rock from the new project and filled the pit back in, then leveled it off and re-seeded it.
The gravel pit effort not only spurred some environmental restoration and erased an eyesore, but it also saved about $300,000 in hauling costs.
“It’s really a nice addition to the project. And when you can save money like that for taxpayers, that always helps,’’ said Chris Dahlberg, county commissioner representing western Duluth. “People out here (West Duluth) are going to be happy to get this road open again; to have both Haines and Highland open. It’s already a nice addition to the neighborhood along 57th. And it’s really going to be a nice entry point into that part of town.”
