It’s happening at the I 35E/County Road J intersection and when the work is finished it will make getting on and off the interstate in Lino Lakes easy peasy.
“This is one of the largest projects that we’ve undertaken in Ramsey County for quite some time,” said John Mazzitello from the Ramsey County Public Works Department. “The last one of this magnitude would have been the interchange at Rice Street and I 694.”
It’s all hands on deck for this project, as multiple agencies and cities are involved in improving interchanges at this location.
Said Mazzitello: “We’re collaborating with Anoka County, as well as the city of Lino Lakes, city of North Oaks, White Bear Township, MnDOT and two different watershed districts.”
Residents in this area will benefit from the upgrades.
“This is a long anticipated project that has a number of different purposes,” Mazzitello said. “First and foremost is the new accesses to and from I 35E. When this project is complete we’ll be providing a northbound access to 35E from County Road J as well as a southbound exit to County Road J from 35E. Neither of those exist today and will provide better access to the community from the interstate.”
New I 35E bridge
The road work will finish in late 2026 and the total tab for the upgrades is just south of $19 million.
“As part of this project we’re going to get a new bridge over I 35E,” Mazzitello said. “It’s going to be just north of the existing bridge and will be at a slight angle to allow for the connection over the interstate. The old bridge will be removed once the new bridge is constructed.”
Road crews are making plenty of changes, which will eventually make commuting through this part of Lino Lakes a breeze.
“The county road that runs north-south alongside 35E, which belongs to Anoka County, will have access to County Road J as part of this new interchange improvement,” Mazzitello said. “The improvements to Centerville Road will go about 300 feet north of County Road J…We’re going to be seeing roundabouts at the interchange, on ramps and off ramps, as well as a new roundabout at Centerville and County Road J.”
Of course, there will be driving pain before driving gain.
There are detour signs in the area to minimize this, but in the end the upgrades will be worth it. There will also be better pedestrian and bicycle connectivity along County Road J between Centerville Road and Otter Lake Road and improving the intersection at Centerville and County Road J.
“We’re excited to get this project completed,” Mazzitello said. “We think it’s going to be award-winning when it’s done.”
For detour information go to the Ramsey County web page and search on County Road J construction projects.
