Washington County project manager Andrew Giesen told the Lake Elmo City Council on Nov. 12 that a preferred design for the Highway 36/Lake Elmo Avenue intersection would raise Highway 36 over Lake Elmo Avenue with bridge structures and build a new south-side frontage road with full acceleration and deceleration ramps.

The county estimates total project costs at "roughly $50,000,000," Giesen said, and noted the City of Lake Elmo has programmed $5,000,000 in its capital improvement plan. Giesen said the city's share was initially calculated at about $12,000,000 but, after applying $3,000,000 in MnDOT funding and other outside funds, the city's remaining cost share could fall to "somewhere between 4 and 4 and a quarter million" below the budgeted amount; he also said an existing funding gap of roughly $4,000,000 remains and county and MnDOT staff are working to close it.

Giesen told the council the preferred alternative grew out of a multi-year alternatives evaluation and public engagement program. He added the design would require the full acquisition of River Valley Church; "we have made our full final offer ... the church received that positively," he said, and staff were negotiating final purchase-agreement terms.

The Keats Avenue connection — and whether the eastbound-to-southbound right-turn movement should remain — became the meeting's most contested point. Mayor (S1) argued the city had not seen crash data tying the Keats right-turn to local safety problems and said many residents rely on Keats for neighborhood access. "I don't understand why you would eliminate the frontage Road while maintaining that," the mayor said, urging MnDOT to consider a third alternative that preserves the right-turn while imposing performance measures to justify any future closure.

Mister Tomasovich, representing MnDOT/Washington County project staff, described MnDOT's cost participation policy and said MnDOT can participate in local frontage-road construction, including right-of-way acquisition, when access to the trunk highway is eliminated. He said closure of Keats is consistent with interchange design and anticipated higher-speed, higher-volume traffic on Highway 36 following the interchange: "Under the cost participation policy, improvement is funded ... where access to the trunk highway is being eliminated," he said, and MnDOT participation in the frontage road is contingent upon that closure.

Council members pressed staff for alternatives and additional data. Council member Craigness asked how the project would be funded if the $4,000,000 gap is not closed; Giesen said the team is pursuing alternatives and expected to close the gap but acknowledged the shortfall remains. Council member Dragcich asked why the neighboring city (Grant) has no cost share; staff explained Grant does not own a corresponding frontage road and therefore the county's cost rule does not apply to that jurisdiction. Giesen confirmed the frontage road construction cost estimate is $12,000,000 for roughly 1.5 miles.

The county also asked for flexibility on contractor hours to protect the project schedule; Giesen said City code currently allows construction Monday'Friday 7 a.m.'7 p.m. and Saturdays 8 a.m.'6 p.m., but the county will ask the city to permit extended allowable working hours in order to keep the two-season schedule (starting in 2026 and ending in 2027). He emphasized that expanded hours are a contracting flexibility, not a guarantee of daily Sunday work.

Next steps: county and MnDOT staff said they will follow up with the city on Keats access and return to the council in December or January with a proposed cost-and-maintenance agreement and an allowable-working-hours request, and plan to advertise the construction bid package in the spring and seek city concurrence before awarding a contract.