Минесота штатындағы I-694 тас жолының тарихы мен жаңғырту жобалары

Highway in Minnesota

The original beltway around the Twin Cities was MN 100. The portion of I 694 running east from the current MN 100 in Brooklyn Center through New Brighton and MN 100 was part of that original beltway. There was a two lane bridge across the Mississippi river where the current I 694 bridge is today. That bridge was constructed as part of a defense initiative authorized in 1942 at the beginning of US involvement World War II. The construction of I 694 to Interstate standards was authorized in 1956. The first section of I 694 completed was between US 10 at Arden Hills to I 35E at Little Canada in the early 1960s. The last section of I 694 completed was between I 35E at Little Canada to its junction with I 94 and I 494 at Oakdale–Woodbury, completed by the early 1970s. I 694 was built as the main thoroughfare for the northern suburbs of Minneapolis–Saint Paul. These include the cities of Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Fridley, New Brighton, Arden Hills, Shoreview, Little Canada, Vadnais Heights, White Bear Lake, Maplewood, Pine Springs, and Oakdale. The original design of I 694 had problems with "weave" interchanges. The Unweave the Weave construction project, completed between 2004 and 2008, disentangled I 694 and I 35E at Little Canada–Vadnais Heights. The project was designed around several factors, a few of which included increasing freeway traffic capacity, increasing driver safety, and eliminating weaving and lane changes (eliminating "geometric deficiencies"), hence the name of the project, "Unweave the Weave". This weaving was the case for most drivers prior to 2005, before most of the road reconstruction work on the interchanges was done. As a result of lane changing and constant congestion, many accidents occurred on the interchange after its completion in the early 1970s. The current layout of the two Interstates now provides for safer exits and entrances, minimal congestion, and better road surface durability. The project also realigned the two interstates to improve the infrastructure of the highway from an asphalt surface to a complete concrete surface. Numerous bridges were rebuilt, including the residential streets of Edgerton Street and Labore Road in Vadnais Heights. The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) updated the overlapped section between I 694 and I 35E to increase the number of lanes from six (three in each direction) to 12 (six in each direction) and eliminated the requirement to change lanes through the area. The section was rebuilt in concrete instead of asphalt and noise walls were added. Another construction project, the I 35W/US 10/I 694 North Central Corridor Reconstruction Project, also designed to reduce unnecessary traffic crossovers on the highway, began in September 2011. This project eliminated the weaving movements of I 694 at its interchange with US 10 and MN 51 in Arden Hills. This interchange often created one of the worst bottlenecks in the Twin Cities because drivers need to change at least one lane to continue either direction on I 694 between MN 51 (Snelling Avenue) and US 10. When the construction project was completed, the roadway of I 694 included two through lanes in each direction from I 35W at New Brighton to US 10 at Arden Hills, three through lanes in each direction from US 10 in Arden Hills to Rice Street at Shoreview–Little Canada, and five through lanes in each direction from Rice Street to the I 694/I 35E interchange, compared with the two to three lanes throughout the I 694 corridor. Construction on the North Central Corridor project began the week of September 19, 2011. Work was completed in November 2013, at an estimated cost of $185.5 million (equivalent to $ in ).

Exit numbers continue from I 494.