The completion of road upgrades to Minnesota Highway 11 expected in 2014 will provide Borderland with three major transportation corridors with 10-ton capability.
Outgoing District 5 Commissioner Mike Hanson, who has represented the area that includes Highway 11 since 1997, said bids to continue the upgrade to Highway 11 are expected to be awarded in late 2013 or early 2014 with the construction taking place by July 1, 2014. The project is expected to be complete sometime in November 2014.
Hanson said completion of the upgrade will benefit all travelers, but especially wood fiber producers who depend on a 10-ton road to bring their wood to various mills. Without 10-ton capability, the loggers transport their wood via an 80-mile detour to avoid the highway that carries annual spring weight restrictions.
“They will be able to run that highway all year long,” he said.
Part of the reason local officials have pushed for the 10-ton Highway 11 upgrade is to provide three transportation corridors – U.S. Highway 53 and Minnesota Highways 71 and 11 – that can carry 10-tons year around.
No detours are expected to be used during the 2014 construction of Highway 11, said Hanson. Instead, side roads around major areas of construction will be used, as will flag people and one-way traffic.
“Highway 11 will be open the whole time,” he said.
The upgrade and keeping the highway open to traffic during construction will save all travelers time and money, he said.
“It saves 80 to 100 miles, and the expenses – extra time and fuel,” he said.
The 10-ton capability will also save Koochiching County and its residents on the costs to haul the area's solid waste to a landfill in Kittson County.
Dale Olson, director of the county's Environmental Services Department, said that at least $100 per load of garbage will be saved with the upgraded road.
Cost savings vary because of the number of weeks the roads were closed to 10-ton vehicles in the spring and forced to take the detour to Kittson County. However, he estimated that $4,000 to $5,000 would be saved annually.
He said the biggest expenses to the solid waste transportation occurred in the last couple years of road construction.
“It will be good to have that road construction over so we don't have waiting periods,” he said. “We've also been paying for that, as well as the detours.”
Upon completion of the Highway 11 project, Borderland will be able to advertise that every route to Koochiching County and International Falls is able to carry 10-ton of weight year around.
“It will be a selling point for our area,” he said. “Without it, we're completely shut down in the spring.”
