“I would say this is very intense,” said MnDOT’s Kent Barnard. “Highway 10 gets a lot of traffic. Lot of traffic in and out of the Twin Cities. It’s a 24 hour a day situation out here with traffic.” “Everything is very dangerous out here,” said Cheryl Melich, who is part of MnDOT’s US 10 construction team. “You can hear it and see it. It’s very loud. You always have to keep your head on a swivel.”
We got an up close and personal look of this major project when MnDOT gave us access into a cone zone. The view from the construction bullseye is eye-opening. There is a beehive of activity where multiple jobs are being performed simultaneously on this busy concrete ribbon.
It is controlled chaos.
Said Melich: “You just gotta be aware of all your surroundings.”
Melich has been with MnDOT for 28 years. She knows exactly what it’s like to get in the trenches of a major road project. On this high risk job safety is paramount.
“Please slow down,” Melich said. “Watch the signs. Pay attention to the signs. Use a little caution when you drive past the people that are out here working.”
“We’ve got traffic moving,” Barnard said as he stood close to cars and trucks that whizzed by. “I’d say that was about maybe three feet from me. Thank God we have our barrier here.”
Bridge demolition
Recently on a scorching hot 90 degree Friday, MnDOT crews were tearing down the eastbound US 10 bridge that spans the Rum River.
Said Barnard: “The weather can be another challenge out here.”
From concrete saws to jack hammers, these individuals got plenty accomplished as they were breaking the bridge into concrete chunks.
“We are doing a vital job,” Melich said.
Despite the risk involved, this is just another routine day at the office – which in this case happens to be above a scenic river.
“We need to give the contractors, the MnDOT workers, the county, the city workers, and the tribal workers a lot of props for the work they do out here under very dangerous conditions many times,” Barnard said…”In addition to what the workers have to deal with, with all the heavy equipment moving out here. Trucks in and out of the work zone, they also have to deal with live traffic out on the highway. Makes it doubly dangerous for them.”
Give them a brake
Bottom line is when you encounter a road construction crew, give them a brake.
“Everybody out here has family,” Barnard said. “Every single one of them have family. They all want to get home at the end of the day. They want to go home and enjoy their summer weekends too…Slow down, watch out for workers and construction equipment. Stay off your phone.”
For Melich, being part of a ginormous project like this is a huge honor and one she does not take lightly.
“I take what I do out here seriously,” Melich said. “I really do…I drive through here. I don’t live far from here on highway 10. This is like my home away from home. I want to make sure it’s built right.”
According to Barnard, MnDOT keeps highways like US 10 open when there is construction, because they know it inconveniences people if they have to take lengthy detours around the project.
