End Date Announced for Lengthy Rochester Road Closure

Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News)- A nearly seven-month closure for a road in northwest Rochester is set to end this week. 

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That’s according to an announcement made by the City of Rochester Thursday. The closure was due to a road reconstruction project. 

Traffic will once again flow on 65th St. Northwest on Friday, Nov. 17. The street has been closed from 37 Ave. Northwest to 50 Ave. Northwest since April. 

Last year the project focused on the west side of the two-lane road and construction this year centered around the east side of the road. During the project crews constructed roundabouts at the street’s intersections with 50th Ave. and 55th Ave. 

They also added a pedestrian tunnel at the Dakota Middle School. The newly-constructed road features a median dividing the two traffic lanes, a dedicated bike lane on both sides of the street, a pedestrian and bike trail along the southern side of the road and a trail from 50th Ave. to 55th Ave. on the street’s north side. 

The project’s website cites a 2020 traffic study that predicts vehicles per day traveling through the west end of the project will increase from 1,050 to 6,750 by 2045 and vehicles per day on the east end of the work zone will rise from 8,700 to 16,300 over that same time span. 

The road was built to allow for the addition of more traffic lanes if the need arises.