Construction on the 66th Street and Portland Avenue Roundabout is underway.

August 13th Update

Lane changes will be taking place to allow for removal of the old pavement  and completion of underground utility work.  Oakland Avenue is temporally closed at 66th Street during pavement removal.  The bus detour on Park Avenue from 66th to 67th Street will be moved to Elliot Avenue to allow pavement removal and work to take place at Park Avenue and 66th Street.   The detour is set to begin Monday, August 13th to coincide with pavement removal. This detour is expected to last three to four weeks.

July 29th Update

The changeover to the temporary one lane roundabout took place last Friday.  Despite the rain, everything went well.  Concrete barriers and lane striping were added to improve traffic flow.  Changeable message signs were moved closer to the intersection and messages were changed to inform drivers.  The one lane roundabout is working well, but we will continue to monitor and make adjustments as necessary.  The dirt stockpiles should be removed this week and traffic will be switched to the newly paved lanes.  Removal of old pavement will take place and underground work started once traffic has switched.  The bus detour will remain on 67th Street until construction activities allow for the safe relocation of the bus stops on 66th Street.

July 22nd Update

UPDATE - Plans for the changeover to the temporary one lane roundabout have been moved up to Friday, July 26th, after the morning rush hour.  The changeover should be completed and open to traffic in time for the evening rush hour.  There will be no closure of the intersection, it will remain open during the change, but there may be short term delays during the day.  The signal will be disconnected and removed at this time.  Changeable message signs are in place and will be used to inform drivers to stop for traffic in the Roundabout.

Starting Wednesday, July 23rd, permanent and temporary paving will be taking place in preparation for the traffic changeover.  Paving should be complete by Thursday.

July 15th Update

A lot of changes will take place in the coming week.  Paving of the east side of Portland Avenue and the north side of 66th Street will take place next week.  Current plans are to have the signal disconnected early morning Saturday, July 27th when the intersection will change over to the temporary 1 lane roundabout.  A short term closure of the intersection is planned for 5-7am Saturday, July 27th.  Plans are dependant on weather and subject to change, please refer to this website for the latest updates.

July 8th Update

Temporary fencing for the 4th of July celebration was removed, everything went well on the 4th.  Removal of the remaining portion of NB Portland is taking place.  Curb and gutter is going in on the south side of 66th Street and the east side of Portland Avenue.  Street light bases are going in on portions of the project.

July 1st Update

The bus route change took place on June 27th.  Subcut excavation and filling with select granular and class 5 is taking place on the south leg of northbound Portland Avenue and the west leg of westbound 66th Street . Site clean up and temporary fencing is going in for the 4th of July.  Curb and gutter is scheduled for next week for portions of the NE corner of the project.  Most of the power poles have now been removed and the utilities have been buried underground.

June 24th Update

Due to traffic congestion from buses entering and exiting the construction site at 66th Street and 5th Avenue, Metro Transit Buses will be rerouted from 66th to 67th Street between Nicollet and Park Avenue.  This change is scheduled to take place on Friday, June 27th after the morning rush hour.  We will continue to work to get all Metro Transit Buses back onto 66th Street when construction activities allow for the safe relocation of the bus stops. 

At this time, the changeover from the signalized intersection to the temporary single lane roundabout is anticipated to take place around the end of July.  Work done by the City’s contractor continues to be delayed due to relocation of private utilities.  The City and contractor are working to create a safe construction site for the 4th of July Celebration.