Short Hwy 61 traffic delays Aug. 19 at CP Rail bridge south of Red Wing
RED WING, Minn. – Motorists near the Highway 61 bridge over the Canadian Pacific Railway south of Red Wing will encounter brief traffic delays Aug. 19 during daytime hours while construction crews place beams on the new bridge, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.
On Monday, Aug. 19, crews will be setting up the crane and set a few beams for four hours. Traffic will remain open during the work, but traffic will be stopped when the crane lifts the beam from a truck onto the adjacent new bridge.
During that time, the flagging operation will work this way:
- A truck with a beam will pull alongside the bridge in the northbound direction. Workers will briefly stop traffic so vehicles can take turns driving through in the single open lane.
- The beam will be picked up and set with the crane. Workers will stop traffic in both directions until the beam is set.
- Workers will continue with traffic alternating in both directions until the truck carrying the beam is assembled back together and leaves the northbound lane.
- Workers will open the road back up in both directions until the next beam is ready to be set.
- This will occur five times.
The new Highway 61 bridge over the Canadian Pacific Railway is being constructed to the north of the existing bridge, which allows traffic during construction. The original bridge was built in 1955 and remains in use during construction. It will be removed in the fall after traffic switches to the new bridge.
The project is expected to be completed October 2024. The contractor for the $10.2 million project is Redstone Construction, LLC.
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