MnDOT to replace six aging culverts between Grand Marais and Grand Portage along Highway 61 this summer
Apr 11, 2025 08:57AM ● By Content Editor
By Laura Durenberger-Grunow - Boreal Community Media - April 11, 2025
Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) released its list of 2025 construction projects. In Cook County, MnDOT has one project scheduled along Highway 61 between Grand Marais and Grand Portage: replacing six 80-year-old culvert boxes, one at a time.
Traffic impacts will include narrowing the road down to one lane, with a portable stoplight in use. According to MnDOT, a short detour may be necessary at one of the sites.
MnDOT stated that the project's benefits include proactively replacing the culverts prior to failure, restoring structural integrity to the road core, and providing adequate hydraulic capacity at each culvert.
The MnDOT project is separate from the Cook County Highway Department culvert replacement at Arrowhead Road and Otis Creek in Hovland, scheduled for 2026. Cook County Highway Engineer Robbie Hass told Boreal Community Media that MnDOT and the Cook County Highway Department have separate project schedules, and typically only coordinate when it comes to potential road closures involving detour routes. They also do not have any involvement in each entity's town hall events.
2025 projects scheduled by the Cook County Highway Department include the Mill the Hill and Little Devil Track River bridge replacement project on the Gunflint Trail, Tofte Road resurfacing, road striping on all county roads (except the Gunflint Trail), Spruce Creek Bridge Project, and finishing the Grand Portage Timber Bridge project. To learn more, visit the Cook County Highway Department page here.
MnDOT will host an informational meeting about the project at the Hovland Town Hall (4957 East Highway 61) on Wednesday, April 23, at 5 p.m. To learn more, visit the MnDOT project page here.
Earlier this month, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) released its list of 2025 construction projects. In Cook County, MnDOT has one project scheduled along Highway 61 between Grand Marais and Grand Portage: replacing six 80-year-old culvert boxes, one at a time.
Traffic impacts will include narrowing the road down to one lane, with a portable stoplight in use. According to MnDOT, a short detour may be necessary at one of the sites.
Image: Culvert replacement locations, MnDOT
MnDOT stated that the project's benefits include proactively replacing the culverts prior to failure, restoring structural integrity to the road core, and providing adequate hydraulic capacity at each culvert.
The MnDOT project is separate from the Cook County Highway Department culvert replacement at Arrowhead Road and Otis Creek in Hovland, scheduled for 2026. Cook County Highway Engineer Robbie Hass told Boreal Community Media that MnDOT and the Cook County Highway Department have separate project schedules, and typically only coordinate when it comes to potential road closures involving detour routes. They also do not have any involvement in each entity's town hall events.
2025 projects scheduled by the Cook County Highway Department include the Mill the Hill and Little Devil Track River bridge replacement project on the Gunflint Trail, Tofte Road resurfacing, road striping on all county roads (except the Gunflint Trail), Spruce Creek Bridge Project, and finishing the Grand Portage Timber Bridge project. To learn more, visit the Cook County Highway Department page here.
MnDOT will host an informational meeting about the project at the Hovland Town Hall (4957 East Highway 61) on Wednesday, April 23, at 5 p.m. To learn more, visit the MnDOT project page here.
Image: Highway 61 - Carlson Creek Crossing, existing condition. MnDOT
Image: Highway 61 - Carlson Creek Crossing, proposed condition. MnDOT
