Highway 36 Options Outlined at Oakdale Meeting

Area officials on Wednesday provided residents with information about a study on the future of Highway 36, specifically the interchanges at Highway 120 and Hadley Avenue.

Once the Highway 36/English Street work is complete, the stoplights at Hadley Avenue (County 35) and Highway 120 (Century Avenue) will be the last along the corridor, said Karen Scheffling, project manager for MnDOT.

“From a traffic standpoint, they don’t make a lot of sense right now,” she said, adding that the Highway 36 intersections at Hadley and Century have had issues with crashes.

There are currently 10 design options for the intersections. Officials expect those to be winnowed to three following resident feedback and the completion of the study, which should be by the end of the year, Scheffling said.

Find the design options on Patch.

The three interchange alternatives will include at least one that can serve both Highway 120 and Hadley Avenue, according to the project website.

Still, there is no funding in place for the project, and a Department of Natural Resources plan to build a bridge for the Gateway Trail over Hadley Avenue is also on hold until the Highway 36 plans are complete, she said.