I-494 widening project kicks off

By Paul Wahl & Alicia Miller

SUN SAILOR NEWSPAPERS/SUN PRESS NEWSPAPERS

In the coming months, delays on I-494 north of Plymouth will more likely be attributed to construction than to congestion.

Representatives of Plymouth and Maple Grove gathered July 23 near the entrance to the Begin golf course to formally kick off the much-awaited project to add a third lane to the freeway among other improvements.

Maple Grove Mayor Mark Steffenson, Dennis Smith (candidate for State Representative) and State Senator Warren Limmer help break ground for the expansion of Interstate 494. A third lane will be added between Highway 55 and the Fish Lake Interchange in Maple Grove. (Photo by Ken Ashfeld)

The project will commence at Highway 55 and finish at the Fish Lake Interchange in Maple Grove.

City officials said it was difficult to determine whether to have a groundbreaking or a ribbon-cutting, so they opted to bring in a large pile of dirt to be used for the ceremony.

Nearly everyone who spoke referred the more than 15 years the project has been in the works.

Mayor Kelli Slavik said she and council members were thrilled to celebrate the beginning of a project that will help ease congestion for motorists on the last two-lane stretch of the corridor. The project will make the commute safer, improve transportation and area commerce and improve the quality of life for motorists, she said, as vehicles sped by on nearly I-494.

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I-494 widening project kicks off