State transportation officials announced the beginning of the 2013 construction season March 27 at Central Office in St. Paul and via webinar. District offices hosted local media across the state and provided specific information about their local projects.

This year’s program includes 337 projects around the state with a construction cost of more than $1.1 billion.

“The transportation infrastructure is a key component to our state’s economy. This work helps ensure that motorists can continue to get to work, to recreation and that goods and services can get to us,” said Commissioner Charlie Zelle.

The 2013 construction program includes work on 87 highway and bridge projects in the Twin Cities and 193 highway and bridge projects in Greater Minnesota. An additional 57 projects statewide will improve safety at railroad crossings, repair seawalls and docks, make improvements on runways and terminals at regional airports, and improve transit centers.

“In the metro area, we work a lot of nights and weekends when traffic volumes are reduced to get projects done,” said Tom O’Keefe, Metro District Program Delivery office director. “It’s going to be a tough season ahead in the Twin Cities area. We’ll have numerous full closures and lane restrictions.”

Major projects in the Twin Cities metro area include:

• Interstate 694/Highway 10 interchange reconstruction in Arden Hills
• Highway 36 interchange at English Street construction in Maplewood
• I-35/I-35E pavement, bridge and guardrail construction from Elko to Eagan

Major projects in Greater Minnesota include:

• I-94 resurfacing between Clearwater and St. Cloud
• Highway 14 in North Mankato
• Highway 78 resurfacing from Battle Lake to Perham, including reconstructing Lake Street in downtown Battle Lake to install accessible pedestrian ramps (“Complete Streets”)

“This work helps maintain a strong transportation system,” Zelle said. “We know from a lot of study that the need for road construction is growing. As a state, we need to begin to work on solutions that will allow us to continue this level of work into the future.”

Motorists will encounter several work zones as crews perform road construction and maintenance work. The two most common causes of work zone crashes are inattention and driving too fast. In 2010-2012, about 5,600 crashes occurred in construction zones. These crashes resulted in 22 fatalities and 2,400 injuries, according to the Department of Public Safety. 

For a complete list of projects, including construction dates and traffic impacts, visit www.mndot.gov/construction.

Tim Katchmark, Metro District, has exhausted all of his sick and vacation leave due to a serious illness and has been approved as a recipient under the state’s vacation donation program.

Katchmark was diagnosed with Myelodysplastic syndrome, a form of leukemia, on Oct. 31, 2012. He has had three rounds of chemotherapy and has been hospitalized several times since his diagnoses. On April 1, he will have his fourth round of chemo before receiving a stem cell transplant at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester.

The state vacation donation program allows employees to donate up to 40 hours vacation per fiscal year to approved recipients.

To donate vacation leave:

• Go to Employee Self Service Website, click on “Other Payroll,” then “Leave Donations”
• Select the magnifying glass next to “Reserve Bank” and choose Katchmark’s name
• Enter the number of hours you wish to donate
• Click on the yellow “Save” box

Donation forms are also available from your Payroll or Human Resources office or at www.mmb.state.mn.us/doc/vacation/pe665.pdf.

By Rich Kemp

By Jerimiah Moerke, District 4 public affairs coordinator