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Anoka County will temporarily widen Highway 10 in Ramsey this summer in preparation for the start of the Ramsey Gateway project this fall.
That project will replace traffic signals on Highway 10 at Sunfish Lake and Ramsey boulevards in Ramsey with grade-separated interchanges as well as build bridges over the adjacent Burlington-Northern Santa Fe Railway tracks.
But to allow Highway 10 to have two lanes open in each direction and provide business access, despite traffic shifts, throughout the two years of Ramsey Gateway construction, the county has gone out for bids for work to widen the west side of Highway 10 from about Anoka Technical College to beyond Ramsey Boulevards, said Joe MacPherson, county chief transportation officer and highway engineer.
While the road widening is temporary, some of the pavement will be retained as part of the frontage road that will be constructed on the north side of Highway 10 to link Ramsey and Sunfish Lake boulevards as well as the technical college during the Ramsey Gateway project, MacPherson said.
“If we don’t have two lanes open in each direction, another year would have to be added to the Ramsey Gateway construction,” he said.
The timeline is for the Anoka County Board to award a contract in May or June with construction taking place from July to early fall, MacPherson said.
According to a report to the county board’s Transportation Committee, which authorized the bidding process, the preparatory project will also include construction of a new frontage road east of Sunfish Lake Boulevard on the south side of Highway 10.
Estimated cost of this project is $4.5 million, which will be funded from state and local dollars, MacPherson said.
As for the Ramsey Gateway project, a partnership between the county and city of Ramsey, final construction plans have been submitted to the Minnesota Department of Transportation for approval.
“We are hopeful the plans will receive final approval by mid-May,” MacPherson said.
The project will go out for bids in June with a contract award by the county board in August and construction starting in September, MacPherson said. But heavy construction won’t begin in the spring of 2024 and continue through 2025.
The county board April 11 took a series of actions for the Ramsey Gateway project, approving joint powers agreements with the cities of Anoka and Ramsey and construction agreements with BNSF.
While the project takes place in Ramsey, the agreement with Anoka is necessary because a portion of Anoka-owned property located on the south side of Highway 10 east of Sunfish Lake Boulevard is needed to construct a frontage road and cul de sac, the agreement states.
It involves some 400 to 500 feet of Anoka land to provide access to properties, but there is no cost to the city, MacPherson said.
But the joint powers agreement with Ramsey does involve cost sharing for intersection improvements on Ramsey Boulevard (County State Aid Highway 56) and Sunfish Lake Boulevard (County State Aid Highway 57) that are part of the project.
Under the agreement, the Ramsey Boulevard intersection with Riverdale Drive will become a roundabout, so will the boulevard’s intersection with the planned frontage road, while the intersection with 143rd Avenue will be right-in and right-out.
The Sunfish Lake Boulevard intersections with Riverdale Drive and McKinley Street will both be full access with stop signs on Riverdale and McKinley, but there will be a roundabout constructed at the intersection with the proposed frontage road, the agreement states.
The agreements with the railroad involve the construction of bridges over the tracks on both Sunfish Lake and Ramsey boulevards, MacPherson said.
They spell out the financial contribution of the railroad toward the project, which will be a total of $2 million.
Federal law requires the railroad to contribute to a grade-separation project over its tracks, but only toward the cost of the bridge itself, Commissioner Scott Schulte said.
“We had a great partnership with BNSF with the Hanson Boulevard overpass project in Coon Rapids,” he said.
According to MacPherson, the project, which has an estimated price tag in the $100 million range, is fully-funded with the majority of the dollars coming from federal and state sources, but with local contributions as well.
Under the joint powers agreement, Ramsey will pay $4 million toward the project cost.
“The county has committed $5.5 million,” MacPherson said.
SOURCE: Hometown Source
