Area residents invited to online open house for US 71 project

MnDOT District 8 invites Willmar area residents to participate in an online open house for the US 71 project. Starting in June, several projects will take place along US 71 in Willmar.
Planned projects include:

Construction of a J-turn at the intersection of US 71 and Kandiyohi County Road 90. A sidewalk/pedestrian crossing will also be added to this intersection.
Culvert replacement at the entrance to 48 Avenue.
Resurfacing of the concrete pavement from Point Lake to the US 71 and Highway 23 split (southbound lanes only).
Pave the U-turn at the intersection of US 71 and Kandiyohi County Road 24. Currently, this is a gravel U-turn used by emergency vehicles only. Once paved, this intersection will be a complete J-turn and open for all to use.
Construct sidewalk/pedestrian crossing at 23 Street NE and US 71.
Extend the left turn lane at 23 Street.
Open the median partially at 41 Avenue. Currently, this is a right-in/right-out with no median cross-over. Opening the median partially means that northbound traffic will be able to turn left and go westbound on 41 Avenue. Vehicles that are eastbound on 41 Avenue will not be able to go northbound on US 71.

A detour will be required for the concrete resurfacing work and to complete a portion of the J-turn project. Roads that connect Kandiyohi County Road 24 near the Kandiyohi Health and Human Services building to the US 71 and Highway 23 split will be closed at various times during the project. Neighborhoods with only one access (north side of Point Lake) will always have access. Kandiyohi County Road 24 and Kandiyohi County Road 25 will not be closed at the same time.

The US 71 online open house allows participants the opportunity to learn more about the project at a time that is convenient for them. A link to the open house can be found on the project website at https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d8/projects/us71cr90/index.html. The online open house will be open until January 15, 2021.

MnDOT invites and encourages participation by all. If you need an ASL, a foreign language interpreter, or other reasonable accommodation, or need documents in an alternative format (such as braille or large print), please email your request to Janet Miller at [email protected] or call 651-366-4720.

For more information and to sign up for project updates, please visit https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d8/projects/us71cr90/index.html.