Cook County News Herald

Grand Marais City Council signs agreement with MnDOT on Highway 61 project



On May 29, the Grand Marais City Council passed a resolution supporting a Highway 61 cost share and maintenance agreement with the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) for the work that will take place in Grand Marais in 2020 and 2021.

The contract calls for the city to pay the state for the city’s share of the costs of the trail, lighting, sidewalk, roadway, water main and sanitary sewer construction and other associated construction that will take place along, and adjacent to Highway 61 from 1.8 miles north of Cutface Creek to 0.1 miles north of County State Aid Highway (C.S.A.H.) No. 14.

Approval of this agreement was required so MnDOT could proceed with the bid selection process.

One ongoing discussion led to a potential revision in the contract language regarding snow clearing in parking lanes. MnDOT will continue to be responsible for snow clearing in parking lanes adjacent to areas that are not under reconstruction, such as west of 8th Avenue and the North side of Highway 61 East of Broadway.

Also, to ensure that the city and MnDOT have the flexibility to select the most efficient and cost effective methods, a statement was added to paragraph 3.1 in the contract:

“The actual split of resources, between MnDOT and the City of Grand Marais, needed to complete the snow removal task in the parking lanes can be revisited by either party when a more efficient operation is sought. Under any revised operation agreed to by the entities, the total labor and equipment costs for MnDOT will not exceed the value of the loading portion of the snow as outlined noted above.”

The county entered into agreement with MnDOT to provide for payment by the county to the state for the county’s share of the costs of the traffic control signal system construction and other associated construction to be performed upon, along, and adjacent to Trunk Highway No. 61 from 1.8 miles north of Cutface Creek to 0.1 miles north of County State Aid Highway (C.S.A.H.) No. 14 within the corporate City limits.

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