WINONA, Minn. – Construction of the Mankato Avenue roundabout at Highway 61 went into high gear but didn’t go well. There were two-mile traffic backups and one-hour delays. Motorists were irate. On Mankato cars were stalled all the way to Sarnia Street and beyond onto o the Canadian Pacific mainline tracks. On Highway 61, the backup extended the full length of lower Lake Winona to Huff Street. Some angry motorists, late for work, cell-phoned their state legislators. State Senator Jeremy Miller called on the state Transportation Department to solve the mess. An agency spokesperson, Mike Dougherty, blamed a switch from permeant stoplights to temporary signals. That problem, he said, was being fixed. Dougherty also said detour signage would be moved for better clarity. “I apologize,” Dougherty said in a KWNO interview. He said the problem would be addressed by the commute hours Wednesday.
Earlier: Precip slows Mankato rotary project