Highway 61 road projects are on schedule

As the work on Highway 61 through Grand Marais progresses, MnDOT District 1 Project Engineer Ed Welch answered some questions our readers have been asking, the main question, of course, is, ‘will this two-year project finish on time?’

“Generally, yes, we are on track for the season overall. Some intermediate dates may be slightly different than expected, but as of right now, the 2021 overall project time is tracking pretty good to wrap up around mid-September, as expected,” said Welch. Commenting on the progress made this 2021 season, Welch added, “I would say that most work has gone as expected so far this season.” Supply issues have been a problem for a lot of businesses, but he noted, “For the most part we haven’t had any supply issues, apart from a minor delay in storm sewer structures, and like I said before, we are still tracking on schedule for this 2021 year as a whole right now. Being a two-year project allowed the contractor to account for any longer lead times they may have had from their suppliers more effectively than single year projects may be able to.” Machines start early in the morning and run until dark, something Welch said is ordinary for Minnesota. “It is common for our construction projects to run from sunrise to sunset, six days a week, for good portions of the construction season,” he said. “That’s just kind of a result of the fact that our winters here in Minnesota (especially up north) are so long. So, contractors need to make the most of the daylight hours they have during the summer months.

Many businesses are having difficulty hiring enough help. Does the general contractor have enough workers on hand?

“The contractor has not expressed any staffing concerns for themselves or their subcontractors,” Welch said. Grand Marais isn’t the only stretch of Highway 61 in the county that is being upgraded. Work in Grand Portage has been progressing on schedule, noted Welch.

“The new bridge at Hollow Rock Creek has a scheduled open to traffic date of August 7. Paving operations are scheduled to wrap up in early August as well. After paving, there will be shouldering, signing, guardrail, striping, and miscellaneous punch-list/clean-up work that will bring us up to an expected completion date around Labor Day.”