Support the Timberjay by making a donation.

Serving Northern St. Louis County, Minnesota

Feds sign off on Highway 169 alternatives

Environmental assessment, route selection could be ready within weeks

Marshall Helmberger
Posted 10/15/14

EAGLES NEST— At a town hall meeting here last Friday, officials from the Minnesota Department of Transportation had good news for users of Hwy 169 between Tower and Ely.

Both the federal …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Feds sign off on Highway 169 alternatives

Environmental assessment, route selection could be ready within weeks

Posted

EAGLES NEST— At a town hall meeting here last Friday, officials from the Minnesota Department of Transportation had good news for users of Hwy 169 between Tower and Ely.

Both the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Federal Highway Administration have signed off on MnDOT’s purpose and need and its proposed alternatives for the planned upgrade of the highway in the Eagles Nest area. That means MnDOT can wrap up its draft environmental assessment, or EA, before the end of the year, with a preferred alternative to be announced as early as December.

“These concurrences are a significant milestone,” said Project Manager Michael Kalnbach. “It means things are rolling.”

MnDOT’s original selection of the planned southerly reroute as a preferred alternative ran into trouble with federal agencies over the high cost and environmental impacts. But when MnDOT proposed upgrading the highway within the existing corridor back in 2012, that option ran into a buzz saw of opposition from Ely representatives on the Hwy. 169 improvement task force. That forced MnDOT back to the drawing board a third time, resulting in one of numerous delays that has continuously pushed back the project’s timeline. Now, both options, as well as a couple of potential combinations of the two, are among the alternatives that MnDOT has considered as part of its EA. Cooperating agencies are currently reviewing MnDOT’s 175-page environmental report and are scheduled to have comments back by mid-November. Then MnDOT can finalize its draft, which is expected to identify the preferred alternative. Once released, the EA will be subject to a public comment period, as well as a public hearing. Kalnbach said current plans call for final route selection in February.

Kalnbach said MnDOT is also considering developing the project under a Design-Build process, which would mean early selection of a construction firm for the work. Kalnbach said the Design-Build approach generally speeds up the development of projects. “It means we won’t need a final plan before submitting our Army Corps wetlands application,” he said. “That will save us a few months.”

Kalnbach outlined the latest timeline, which calls for completion of design work by the fall of 2016 and right-of-way acquisition by December 2016. Kalnbach said MnDOT hopes to start construction in the winter of 2016, mostly to allow for forest clearing at a time when long-eared bats won’t be present. Long-eared bats, which both roost and nest in old trees, have recently been identified for possible federal protection.

While MnDOT officials had mostly good news, few of the 40 or so local residents in the room seemed happy about it, and most offered only complaints about the slow pace of project development.

“Why not just pick it (preferred route) today?” asked one local resident, who argued for the southerly realignment.

“Is there a reason we’re doing all this consulting with these federal agencies?” asked Rudy Semeja, a task force leader.

Kalnbach said an EA is required on any major project with federal funding.

“There’s something wrong with this whole process,” said Semeja.

Matt Olberhelmen, a Six Mile Lake property owner again raised his longstanding concern about high concentrations of sulfide in some of the rock in the area. He has previously argued that the large amount of rock removal for the southerly realignment poses environmental risks from acid rock drainage. Kalnbach said MnDOT has accounted for the risks in its assessment, but Olberhelmen, a geologist by profession, questioned if that was possible given that MnDOT had not undertaken sufficient drilling.

Kalnbach said MnDOT assumed the highest percentage of sulfide in its analysis, and that MnDOT does plan to undertake pre-construction drilling to avoid pockets of the highest sulfide.

But most in the room dismissed the discussion over sulfides. “How many people have died from sulfides?” asked Semeja.

Tom Rukavina said that the new Lake Vermilion State Park access road was built through some of the same rock, without any apparent concern over sulfides. “They filled wetlands, and blasted rock,” he said. “There are big piles of rock sitting uncovered. How can the DNR do this when MnDOT can’t in the same area? Either they’re breaking the law or you’re giving us a pile of b.s.”

Others echoed that theme. Bob Berini noted that recent reconstruction of Hwy. 1, south of Ely, involved significant rock blasting, without any mention of sulfide mineralization. “Could we have delayed that by 10-15 years over sulfides?” he asked.

Still others in the room pointed out the need to minimize any detours, because of the extremely long distances involved. Kalnbach indicated that the amount of detour time during construction would vary significantly between the various alternatives. Upgrade within the existing route would require a detour of between 84-140 days, while the so-called middle route, which would upgrade with a road roughly parallel to the existing roadway, would require a detour of between 0-21 days. The southerly realignment would not involve a detour, according to Kalnbach.

Jennifer Dowden asked about the impact of a detour on emergency services. “What is the contingency plan?” she asked. Kalnbach said MnDOT doesn’t take detours lightly and that they would be in regular contact with emergency responders to let them know where closures were in place.

Vermilion Lake Fire Chief Steve Lotz said his fire department faced the same issue during reconstruction of Hwy. 169 around the Black Bear curve. “It’s doable,” he said. “It’s really just a matter of communication.”

At one point, another task force member urged the crowd to let up. “At this point, why don’t we let MnDOT go back and do its work,” he said.

Funding gap?

While MnDOT currently has $19.2 million in its budget for the project, MnDOT’s current estimate for the southerly realignment is $21.4 million, with the high cost largely driven by the estimated 266,000 cubic yards of rock that would need to be blasted along the route. An upgrade along the existing road would entail 126,000 cubic yards of rock removal, with a total project price tag of $18.5 million. The middle route, pegged at $17.3 million, would involve the removal of 69,000 cubic yards of rock.

While the southerly realignment still has a funding gap, MnDOT project engineer Duane Hill said that MnDOT does have funds available to cover the shortfall, if needed.