MnDOT requests proposals for final design of the Trunk Highway (TH) 65 Blaine Interchange Project. The project includes the construction of grade separated interchanges on TH65 at 99th Avenue, 105th Avenue, 109th Avenue, and 117th Avenue. The project also includes construction of frontage and backage roads, roundabouts, a pedestrian bridge connecting 113th avenue and 114th avenue, and access closures along the corridor. The project area is in Blaine, Minnesota, on TH65 from approximately 97th avenue to 121st avenue. This section of highway is a critical link to the Twin Cities urban core for commuters, businesses, freight traffic, and visitors. This section of TH65 has a significant number of commercial businesses that either directly access or are directly adjacent to the highway. This area is also host to the Blaine National Sports Center, a sporting event facility that hosts sporting events 50 out of 52 weekends a year and nearly 4.5M visitors per year. Currently, this corridor has significant issues related to safety, congestion, and mobility for pedestrians and bicyclists. The corridors fatal and severe crash rates are 8 times higher than the state average. This project will convert this section of the corridor to a freeway type highway and is part of a larger overall vision for TH65 to be converted to freeway from County State Aid Highway (CSAH) 10 to Bunker Lake Blvd.
