WINONA, Minn. – The state Transportation Department is on schedule to start work on the first Mankato Avenue round-about May 20. The first phase is at Highway 61, where new access lanes will skirt the Dairy Queen and Winona hospital side of Mankato. Detours already are in place in anticipation of major earth-moving. Mike Dougherty, of the state highway agency, offered these details:
> Access to East Lake Boulevard near the confluence of Highway 61, Homer Road and Mankato Avenue will be closed May 20, with no through traffic on East Lake Boulevard.
> Crews will build the roundabout one half at a time.
> Parks Avenue near Dairy Queen and the hospital will be the first intersection to be temporarily closed. Motorists will be able to reach these destinations via Parks Avenue off Highway 61.
> Crews will close only one of the four rotary sites at a time. The other rotary sites will remajn open until each of their times come.
> No left turns will be allowed, but detour signs will show motorists how to turn right and cross Mankato Avenue.
Earlier: Confusion abounds all around at new round-about
This is mere prep work. Construction crews have heavy equipment staged a few blocks away, behind Fleet Farm and the hotels, for major reworking of the landscape starting May 20.
Looking north. The first major work is to left and north of the Rotary One site.