The southbound lane closure for the U.S. Highway 71 pavement maintenance project is extended Tuesday to 1,500 feet short of the US 71/Hwy 23 split north of Willmar. Crews will begin concrete repair work at 2:00 a.m. on Wednesday, July 28.

Light towers will illuminate a large area of the southbound roadway; however, noise impacts should be minimal. Nighttime work is expected to continue through this week to help crews during the projected heatwave.

As part of the pavement maintenance portion of the project, three miles of concrete pavement is being repaired ā€“ the southbound lane from just north of Point Lake, where the concrete pavement starts, to the far south end by Willmar Lake. Deteriorated concrete will be removed and replaced.