Prior Lake approves design for Highway 13 improvement project

Prior Lake American

The Prior Lake City Council approved a design on Tuesday for the Highway 13 reclamation improvement project.

The design was submitted by the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which will be coordinating the project.

The reclamation is from County Road 21 to Highway 282 and will consist of replacing existing pavement and medians along the stretch of road, as well as installing a traffic signal at Highway 13 and County Road 12 and putting in dedicated left turn and right turn lanes at multiple intersections.

The city of Prior Lake and the Minnesota Department of Transportation will also share the cost of building a pedestrian trail along the west side of Highway 13 from Five Hawks to Anna Trail.

Prior Lake will contribute 40 percent of the construction cost of the trail for more than $173,100 and MnDOT will contribute 60 percent of the cost for nearly $260,000 for a total of $433,000.

The funding for the trail will come from the city's park dedication fund.

The construction will take place in phases from south to north in 2019, with portions of Highway 13 closed as construction progresses. The construction will be staged with the County Road 21 and Highway 13 and the Duluth Avenue and Highway 13 projects also happening in 2019.

The proposed bid opening for the reclamation project is Dec. 21.