The Blaine City Council unanimously approved a cooperative construction agreement with MnDOT for improvements to Trunk Highway 65 at its April 6 meeting.
Director of Engineering Daniel Schluender said that the project would reconstruct a portion of Trunk Highway 65 through the heart of Blaine from 93rd Avenue to 121st Ave.
The project will also add a frontage road to the west side of Ulysses St, which will be constructed from 99th to 109th Ave.
The construction plans have already been approved by MnDOT as well as Anoka County and Blaine. They are currently advertised and soliciting bids for construction.
Blaine is responsible for a portion of the traffic control system at 99th and Ulysses St, as well as city-owned utilities that are being reinstalled or relocated as part of the project. The existing water and sewer main runs alongside Trunk Highway 65, and a lot of it is within existing right of way.
The project also contains major water and sewer crossings within TH65 at the 99th, 110th and 109th intersections.
The cost of the improvements is approximately $98,000 for the traffic signal, and the sewer and water main relocations are slated to cost approximately $45,000, Schluender said. This totals to approximately $1.043 million.
The municipal state aid fund would pay for the signal system, while the utility work was identified within the city’s public utility funds. Within their 2026-30 Capital Improvement Program, the city identified approximately $850,000 for sewer work, replacement and relocation and $1.7 million for water main relocation on the project.