With the arrival of summer, you will see a lot of maintenance activity on Hennepin County roads.

Crews are busy working on the more than 2,200 lane miles of county roads that are owned and operated by the county. There is a lot of work that happens so quickly and out of sight, like pothole filling, mowing and pavement restriping, that you may not even notice much of it.

But we want to take the time to make you aware of some of the more noticeable activities that crews will be doing to maintain the safety and durability of the county roads, including crack sealing, drainage repairs and repaving roads.

Repaving segments of county roads

The county monitors the pavement condition on county roads and creates an annual list of projects best suited for repaving. These are referred to as mill and overlay projects. Pavement from the existing road is removed by milling. Then, crews overlay the road with a new layer of pavement. Each year, the county completes approximately 140 lane miles of repaving.

For the traveling public and worker safety, we put up signs similar to those you may see for major reconstruction activities. However, mill and overlay projects are substantially shorter than a full reconstruction of a road, typically lasting only a few days to a couple of weeks. Also, they typically do not require full closures or detours.

Due to the nature of this work and the weather, the exact starts and finishes of these projects can vary. Changeable message boards will be placed at these locations about one week prior to the start of work.

Sealing cracks in the road

Cracks in the road may not seem like a big deal, but they are when water gets in them and under the pavement. Crack sealing projects take place on the road, alongside traffic. As a result, they can look like big projects. They typically last only a few days and do not require road closures or detours.

Drainage repairs

Water can cause a lot of damage to our roadways and roadsides. Crews may address concerns on the county roads by repairing or replacing catch basins, culverts and curbs; they also may be cleaning ditches and reestablishing shoulders. Often this work will require a lane to be closed and barrels to be placed that may cause lanes to be slightly restricted. Please use caution when you see that work is being done.

Safely navigating through these projects

The majority of these bigger operations and maintenance activities are done under traffic. This means traffic can continue to use the road. However, you should expect some changes in the traffic configurations from day to day. It may take longer to travel through the area.

For the safety of our crews and your safety, we ask that you obey all posted speed limits and slow down when crews are working.

Additional information and staying informed

For the most current project information, please visit Hennepin County operations and maintenance online:
http://www.hennepin.us/residents/transportation/road-maintenance

Click here to get updates about major construction activities and traffic impacts for county roads:
https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/MNHENNE/subscriber/new?category_id=MNHENNE_C79.