(UPDATE) – Highway 14 Railroad Bridge Repairs Postponed
(UPDATED) - The Minnesota Department of Transportation has announced that, due to forecasts calling for bitterly cold conditions next week, it has decided to postpone the railroad bridge project along Highway 14 near Eyota. The work is now tentatively scheduled to take place in early March.
Eyota, MN (KROC-AM News) - The Minnesota Department of Transportation is advising motorists of an upcoming detour involving a busy highway in the Rochester area.
MnDOT says traffic will be detoured off of Highway 14 just west of Eyota next week to allow for repairs to a railroad bridge over the highway. A contractor hired by the Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern Railway will be performing repairs on the bridge, which is often referred to by longtime residents of the area as the Eyota viaduct.
The MnDOT news release concerning the detour does not indicate if the repairs are connected to an incident that occurred last October. A similar detour was put in place after a piece of farm machinery being transported on a flatbed truck struck the railroad bridge over the highway.
READ MORE: Crash Shuts Down Traffic on Highway 14 East of Rochester.
The highway is currently scheduled to be closed beginning at 9 AM next Monday, with the plan calling for it to be reopened by late Friday afternoon, although the work may be postponed if there is inclement weather.
The detour will take traffic north of Eyota on Highway 14 and then west on Olmsted County Road 9 before heading back south to reconnect to Highway 14 on 50th Avenue Southeast.
MnDOT says local traffic will still be allowed on Highway 14 to allow for access to businesses, homes, and Chester Woods Park but it will be barricaded in the vicinity of the railroad bridge.
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