Return to Archived Stories

And traffic was switched to the new four-lane highway from Richmond to the Rich-Spring Golf Course on Friday, Aug. 27.

The switch on the east side of Cold Spring was made so the existing lanes could be reconstructed, according to Micky Klasen, project supervisor for the Minnesota Department of Transportation. Traffic should be alert for heavy equipment around the construction zone, especially at intersections.

The new four-lane highway between Cold Spring and Richmond will not be open until a final layer of bituminous is done. During the next two weeks, crews will pave the road, and traffic will remain in a single lane.

Traffic will also be switched to the new lanes in Cold Spring, and the existing lanes will be reconstructed. Work on the final segment of the 14-mile, four-year Highway 23 expansion project began in April. Crews have already completed the two eastbound lanes, a frontage road, and a park and ride lot on the east side of Cold Spring this summer.

Weather permitting, the project is expected to be completed later this fall, including the remaining road reconstruction and finishing the new bridge over the Sauk River in Cold Spring. The detour through downtown Cold Spring remains until the new bridge is done.