The engineer in charge of the U.S. Highway 2 realignment project in the wake of the landslide months ago just east of Crookston said today that construction on a new section of highway almost 500 feet south of the current east and westbound lanes should start in the spring of 2010 and be finished later that year.
   
Shawn Groven, highway engineer at the Minnesota Department of Transportation office in Bemidji, said Mn/DOT needs to purchase more right-of-way from a handful of property owners in the area.
   
“Their concern is dividing their land up,” Groven explained. “The remnants of land between the old and new right-of-way are big enough to be farmable, but are still small, so it’s kind of a pain.”
   
But, all pain aside, he said that once Mn/DOT geotechnicians determine where the final alignment will be, getting the project finished in the best fashion possible will trump landowner concerns. “We don’t have to satisfy the landowners, whatever works best with the geometrics is where it would go,” Groven said. “But you want to give them the right amount of money; we’re doing what we can to try to work with them and make it work.”
   
The identified 15 to 1 slope away from the river will put the new section of Highway 2 approximately 440 feet south of the current stretch of road, and a total of approximately two miles of roadway will be affected once the project is complete. The result will be an intersection of Highway 2 and Minnesota Trunk Highway 9 that’s significantly south from where it is now, Groven said.
   
Since the project has been given “emergency” status, federal funds will cover the cost.
   
In addition to a history of landslide issues along Highway 2 within the Crookston city limits at Sixth Street, there’s also a history of landslide issues at the site of major landslide in 2008 that Mn/DOT is currently addressing.
   
Groven, who’s been with Mn./DOT since 2000, said in looking at the history of the construction of Highway 2 east of town, he can’t help but be a little perplexed by at least one engineering decision.
   
“When looking at where they put Highway 2, when they made it a four lane, they put the new lane on the river side of the old lane,” he said. “From what I understand, with the proximity to that curve in the river, it’s kind of odd that they didn’t put the new lane on the other side.”