Author: Jeff Strate

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An Interstate 494 improvement project that includes its Eden Prairie, Edina, Richfield and Bloomington corridor, has been awarded $60 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Initial fundings for the project were awarded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation beginning in 2018 for MnPASS lanes and the re-alignment of the I-35W and I-494 interchange. The project’s website notes that the work is designed to reduce traffic and improve safety along the 494 corridor. It will improve the I-35/I494 interchange and improve access approaches and ramps at Nicollet Avenue, Portland Avenue and 12th Avenue. In a news release issued on June…

Flying Cloud Drive between Valley View Road and West 70th Street will be closed Monday June 28th between 5:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In a news alert issued on June 24, the Southwest Light Rail Project said that construction crews will be installing bridge beams over Flying Cloud Drive to complete the bridge over Nine Mile Creek. Detour signs will be posted along the affected roads in the Golden Triangle District. The SWLRT Project recommends that drivers consider the detours indicated on the map below. SWLRT Construction info and updates CLICK HERE FOR MORE SWLRT UPDATES IN MINNETONKA AND EDEN…

Hatchbacks, pick-up trucks and SUV’s loaded with old furniture, construction materials, worn carpets, paneling, doors and dead weed wackers were attempting U turns on Staring Lake Parkway near the Oak Point School ball fields. It was 7:45 a.m., Saturday June 19, Eden Prairie’s Community Drop-Off Day. A few minutes later, the caterpillar began crawling northeast to Anderson Lakes Parkway, east to Columbine Road and south to the Hennepin Tech College Parking lots. Its tail momentarily lengthened with newly arriving cars ready to dump stuff and have stuff trucked to a landfill for free. To begin with, it seemed like the…

The reopening of Hwy 212 between Hwy 62 and Shady Oak Rd has been pushed back to 3 p.m. on Friday, June 18, the second delay of the week, according to a Southwest Light Rail Project Thursday night announcement. The installation of giant, pre-manufactured bridge beams on concrete piers is a complex operation requiring heavy construction cranes and pinpoint accuracy. After the beams are set on to the piers, minor adjustments are made for spot-on alignments. Detour signs will remain in place until Hwy 212 reopens Friday afternoon. The completed span will carry light rail trains over Highway 212 and…

The closure of westbound and eastbound lanes of Hwy 212 between Highway 62 and Shady Oak Road in Eden Prairie extends through to the morning of Thursday, June 17. The Southwest Light Rail Project issued a notice of the rescheduled work at 5:48 p.m. on Friday June 11, 2021. Construction crews are placing bridge beams on installed piers over Hwy 212 that will join the new bridge over Shady Oak Road in the Golden Triangle. The long span will carry light rail trains. Ramps The notice did not provide the new anticipated closing and reopening times for the eastbound Highway…

You need more space. Whether it is in the garage, the porch, or basement. Space is good, space is, well…spacious. And you don’t need that tired chair, wobbly table, dead lawn mower or the old, rolled-up rug in the basement. They’re not exactly heirlooms. They are clutter. Help arrives on Saturday, June 19 – EP’s Community Drop Off Day. It’s only for Eden Prairie residents and it is our town’s biggest annual disposal event. Drive your stuff to Hennepin Technical College on June 19 from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and bid your load “goodbye.” Hennepin Tech’s campus is approached…

The installation of light rail transit bridge beams over Highway 212 north of Shady Oak Road is slated to begin late this Saturday night, June 12. The Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) project anticipates that Thursday , June 17.   Hwy 212 specifics All westbound lanes of Highway 212 between Highway 62 and Shady Oak Road will close Saturday. Eastbound lanes Highway 212 will be closed on Saturday, June 12, mid-afternoon. Ramp closings The on-ramp to eastbound Highway 212 from Valley View Road will be closed from June 12, mid-afternoon through Thursday, June 17. The on-ramp to eastbound Highway 212 from…

Two elder Navy veterans were slowly escorted to chairs under a cobalt clear sky. A bright spring sun warmed their places at the edge of Eden Prairie’s Veterans Memorial. It was Memorial Day, May 31, 2021. Some 250 grownups and children sat on the lush lawn in front of them. Others wandered quietly through the gardens that embrace the handsome memorial. They welcomed the return of their city’s annual veterans remembrance to Purgatory Creek Park. Two years ago, the event was rained out. Last year’s pandemic-careful ceremony was a virtual event via a streaming service. The only apparent change to…

The Southwest Light Rail Project is running two free walking tours of the Southwest Station construction site on Saturday, June 12. Each tour is limited to 15 people. The noon tour has filled, but the 2 p.m. tour may still have openings. A link to the reservation system is provided here. When completed, the expanded station will serve Southwest Transit buses and light rail trains on the Green Line extension. The extension will connect Eden Prairie to Minnetonka, Hopkins, St. Louis Park and Minneapolis. The one hour tours will be led by James Mockovciak, the SWLRT’s community outreach coordinator for…