by Dennis Dalman
editor@thenewsleaders.com
Work will begin sometime in mid- to late June on road reconfigurations and a five-legged roundabout designed to relieve severe traffic congestion and dangers on County Road 1 (Riverside Drive S.) in Sartell near where it connects with Highway 15.
Roadways that will converge at the roundabout will be CR 1, LeSauk Drive, Heritage Drive, River Oaks Lane and an extension of Evergreen Drive.
Stearns County Highway Department Engineer Jodi Teich outlined the project recently during an open house at the Minnesota Department of Transportation Building in St. Cloud.
In conjunction, but separate from that county project, Minnesota Department of Transportation will construct dual left turn lanes along Highway 15 for northwesterly bound traffic at CR 1.
Teich said some of the project will be able to be done with limited traffic flow from and to CR 1 and Highway 15. The work will involve a refiguring of the five roads in that area so they meet at the roundabout.
In recent years, the area by CR 1 and Highway 15 has become increasingly congested with traffic converging from all directions, causing visibility problems, extreme traffic backups, long waits for turns and increasing dangers.
“The (project) will improve traffic flow tremendously,” Teich said at the April 18 public hearing.
The Newsleaders will publish periodic updates of the project once it gets underway.
The proposed roundabout at CSAH 1 and Heritage Drive in Sartell.
