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MnDOT updates Richfield Council on I‑494 phase 2: noise, crossings and municipal consent timeline
Summary
MnDOT staff updated the Richfield City Council on planning and public engagement for I‑494 Phase 2, reported follow-up items including noise analysis, air‑quality/greenhouse‑gas work and a municipal consent window likely in August–September, and agreed to return with more detail on several local safety and crossing items.
MnDOT Major Projects Manager Amber Blanchard told the Richfield City Council on July 22 that work on I‑494 Phase 2 is advancing and that MnDOT expects to seek municipal consent in August or September after completing updated noise and air‑quality analyses.
The update covered follow‑up items from project vision and Phase 1, existing and planned regional construction that could affect traffic in 2027–2029, and public‑engagement plans that include an in‑person open house at Richfield High School on July 30. “We are anticipating that we will be asking for municipal consent sometime in August or September, kind of depending on, when some of that information, especially on noise and air quality, will become available,” Blanchard said.
Why this matters: Phase 2 would continue the I‑494 corridor work begun in Phase 1 and includes local crossings, noise mitigation evaluations, traffic phasing and property easements. Councilmembers pressed MnDOT on local safety fixes and crossings where pedestrian and bicycle users are exposed, asking MnDOT for more detail about targeted interventions at specific interchanges and bridges.
Most of the technical work Blanchard described is…
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