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Project Manager
Lori Vanderhider, PE
1000 Highway 10 West
Detroit Lakes, MN 56501
218-846-7955
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| US Highway 10 is classified as a rural principal arterial route that primarily functions to move traffic from one region of the state to another.
In addition to classification as a rural principal arterial route, this section of roadway has also been designated as a Medium Priority Interregional Corridor (IRC) by Mn/DOT. The overall goal of planning and programming efforts on the IRC system is to preserve and enhance the state’s primary highways so that people and goods are able to move in an efficient, safe and predictable manner between regional trade centers such as Wadena, Brainerd, and Detroit Lakes.
A 31-mile corridor of US 10 from Bluffton to Motley was studied in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in 1988. Since that time, most of this corridor has received more detailed design and environmental review and has been improved to four lanes. The two-lane, 6.1-mile segment near Wadena is now at the point where preliminary engineering and environmental documentation is needed for Mn/DOT, with concurrence from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), to determine a preferred alignment.
The first step in the environmental process, a Scoping Decision Document, was released in 2004. The Scoping Decision Document identified four alternatives, including three bypass alternatives that would carry traffic around the north side of Wadena, and an in-town alternative that would widen the existing Highway 10 to four lanes. The Scoping Decision Document provides the basis for undertaking a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS).
The Draft EIS will consider the impacts of a four-lane divided highway, similar to the rest of the US Highway 10 corridor, through the 6.1-mile segment near Wadena. A divided roadway would provide sufficient capacity to meet future transportation demands, would result in system continuity along US Highway 10, and would increase safety by concentrating access points to the road. However, it will be important not only to study the various alternatives, but their potential to create impacts in the Wadena area. Residents, business owners, local governments and other interested participants will be asked to comment on the alternatives at several public meetings or in other ways to help inform the decision-making process.
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