WINONA, Minn. – Crews laid down more orange cones to channel drivers through the maze of temporary lanes at the rotary intersection construction site at Highway 61 and Mankato Avenue. Spokesperson Mike Dougherty of the state Highway Department was unsurprised at driver confusion: “The signs are there, but people are kind of used to the familiarity of the route they’ve always known, and that’s changed.” More cones will help, he said. The project began three weeks ago.
New intersection in progress. The new round-about will mean no stopping. It will replace an intersection that, with turn lanes, was eight lanes across with a couple dozen synchronized red, green and yellow signals, themselves often baffling.