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Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Finally, Hwy. 169 project gets a shovel in the dirt

Keith Vandervort
Posted 4/19/17

EAGLES NEST TWP— Ely Mayor Chuck Novak woke up last Thursday and had to pinch himself. “Was I awake or was I dreaming that this project was finally coming to fruition?” he asked himself.

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Finally, Hwy. 169 project gets a shovel in the dirt

Posted

EAGLES NEST TWP— Ely Mayor Chuck Novak woke up last Thursday and had to pinch himself. “Was I awake or was I dreaming that this project was finally coming to fruition?” he asked himself.

The mayor was referring to the beginning of the State Highway 169 realignment project between Ely and Soudan. He was just one of a contingent of speakers gathered under a tent near Trygg Road to mark the beginning of construction of the final 5.7-mile leg of the $16 million project that took some 20 years to get a shovel into the ground.

Novak hailed the efforts of local task force members, led by Bill Erzar and Rudy Semeja, who worked continually with Minnesota Department of Transportation staff and elected officials, to keep the road safety project relevant and on the project priority list.

“After 19 years since the task force was first assembled, and a decade after Congressman Oberstar secured funding for the project, we are finally ready to get started,” said U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar at the groundbreaking.

The last segment of road to be improved begins in the Eagles Nest and Six Mile Lake areas and continues west for almost six miles toward Soudan. The road is infamous for its many hills and curves. Trees close to the right-of-way shade many sections, creating dangerous black ice conditions for most of the long Minnesota winter.

“We’ve got so many accidents that have happened on this road, so many people we’ve lost,” said Klobuchar.

Novak also stressed the dangerous driving conditions. “The winter time is really tough. Some days it’s best to take (Highway) 21 and go through Babbitt because of the conditions of the road,” he said.

“The federal government actually came to the table and contributed $13 million. The state contributed $3 million,” according to Klobuchar. “The end result will be a smoother and safer highway with reduced shaded areas and minimized environmental impacts. “This is about the truck driver delivering goods in the middle of a blizzard, or the parent trying to get her kids home late at night,” she said.

Klobuchar told the gathered crowd Thursday about her own childhood memories of driving on Highway 169 when she and her father would visit family members in Ely during the holiday season. “We would drive up on Christmas afternoon and I remember that winding drive from Tower. I remember coming around the corner and seeing the deer jump out at you.”

Delays for the project, almost a decade after the late U.S. Rep. Jim Oberstar secured federal funding for the project were numerous, including attaining state dollars, route selection, rock removal and environmental concerns. “If you had to get the EPA involved every time you moved a rock, there wouldn’t be a road in northeastern Minnesota,” U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan.

“I think we all know that this day was long in the making,” said MnDOT District Engineer Duane Hill.

Thursday marked the start of the project that so many have worked on for years with hopes to eliminate safety concerns. Parts of the highway segment will be completely realigned, creating a new roadbed south of the current road. Other segments will be widened, straightened and repaved. Blasting will begin early this summer. Motorists should expect delays and one-lane traffic at various times through the entire construction season. The highway will remain open to traffic and no detours are planned, according to MnDOT officials.

The project should be completed by July 2018. MnDOT will hold monthly project update meetings at the Eagles Nest Town Hall. The next one is scheduled for Thursday, May 18, beginning at 1 p.m.

More information about the project is available online at www.mndot.gov/d1/projects/Hwy169eagles.