Three-year expansion project on I-94 from Maple Grove to Clearwater to begin this summer

MAPLE GROVE, Minn. (FOX 9) - A direct route to cabin country could be a much slower ride over the next three years. 

Starting this summer, road projects on I-94 from Maple Grove to Clearwater will force many to find another route.

Lanes will be reduced between Maple Grove and Rogers, in Albertville and from Monticello to Clearwater. Once completed, the project aims to ease congestion by adding lanes of traffic in those three areas

Officials with the Minnesota Department of Transportation say the objective is to improve traffic flow and relieve congestion.

“This section of road of all the sections outside the metro area has 40 percent of the congestion, yet in lanes miles it’s only 1.6 percent of it,” said Steve Bot of the I-94 corridor coalition. “So, it’s a very congested, heavily traveled corridor."

The project will be completed by late 2021 at a cost of $350 million.