Washington County, MnDOT outline $50M Highway 36 interchange plan; Lake Elmo council pushes back on Keats closure

Washington County and MnDOT officials on Nov. 12 presented Lake Elmo City Council members with a preferred design for the Highway 36 / Lake Elmo Avenue interchange that would raise Highway 36 over Lake Elmo Avenue, add a new south-side frontage road and full-length ramp acceleration/deceleration lanes, and separate local traffic from the high-speed trunk highway.

Andrew Giesen, project manager for Washington County, said the project — begun in 2021 — has completed environmental and design phases and is estimated to cost about $50,000,000 for design, right-of-way and construction. Lake Elmo has programmed $5,000,000 in its capital improvement program for its portion; the city’s work (largely a 1.5-mile south frontage road) was initially estimated at $12,000,000. After MnDOT offered $3,000,000 and other outside funding is applied, Giesen said the city’s remaining share is estimated at roughly $4.0–4.25 million. He also said Washington County and MnDOT are still working to close an approximate $4,000,000 overall funding gap.

Giesen also told the council the preferred design would require the full acquisition of River Valley Church; he said the county made a final offer that the church received…