If you've got plans to drive to the Twin Cities this summer, and you're hoping to avoid the interstate, it's going to take you longer to get there.

Beginning Monday, April 18, 2016, the Minnesota Department of Transportation is closing a nine-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 169, from Mankato to St. Peter, to complete phase three of the $37 million Minnesota River Flood Mitigation construction project.

The DOT is setting up a detour that will use U.S. Highway 14, Nicollet County Road 13, and Minnesota Highway 99 until the project is completed in October 2016. Under normal traffic conditions, the detour should add 15 minutes to the trip.

So why close the entire highway and not just one side at a time until the work is complete? Officials say two words: safety and money.

Of course, the interstates in Minnesota won't exactly be smooth sailing either. I-90 between Rushmore and Worthington will be reduced to single lane traffic for in each direction for road resurfacing through the Fall of 2016.


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