Road construction, ramp detours to begin September 3 in Virginia

The Virginia area will see a lot of road construction in the next few weeks. Detours will be put into place for ramps at the north junction of Highway 53 and Highway 169 in Virginia, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT.) The detours will be in place from Tuesday, September 3 – 6 for paving work.

MnDOT says the detours will be:

Traffic on westbound Highway 169 entering southbound Highway 53 will be directed on to northbound Highway 53 then U-turn at a median crossover at mile post 71.5 to enter southbound Highway 53. Trucks will be directed on northbound Highway 53 to a median crossover and will take a U turn at milepost 76 to enter southbound Highway 53.

Southbound Highway 53 traffic entering eastbound Highway 169 will be directed to continue on southbound Highway 53 then U turn at a median crossover at milepost 69.7 to enter northbound Highway 53 then take the ramp to eastbound Highway 169.

Trucks taking southbound Highway 53 entering eastbound Highway 169 will be directed to continue on southbound Highway 53 to 9th Street to County Road 103 back to northbound Highway 53 to take the ramp to eastbound Highway 169.

MnDOT says there will be a temporary reroute of the Mesabi Trail at 9th Street that will also take place between Sept. 3 and 6.

Paving work on Highway 53 between 12th Avenue West and the north junction with Highway 169 starts Sept. 3. Lane closures will be in effect between Mondays at 7 a.m. and Friday at noon.

Construction on the bridges over 6th Avenue is ongoing with traffic reduced to one lane in both directions. Width restrictions are in place with the southbound lane reduced to 10.5 feet and northbound reduced to 12 feet. Lane closures are expected to remain in place until Sept. 16.

According to MnDOT, the total cost of the project is $4.4 million and will improve the ride of the road as well as increase the life of the pavement.

For maps and general project information, please visit the project website here: https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d1/projects/hwy53-virginia/index.html