Work begins Tuesday on an intersection at Olson Memorial Highway/Hwy. 55 in Golden Valley at Douglas Drive, meant to make commuting to school safer for students at the Perpich Center for Arts Education.
The redesigned intersection at Douglas Drive will include a pedestrian underpass connecting the Metro Transit bus stop on the north side of the busy highway with the school on the south side.
There are crosswalks on the highway now, but students still have to cross six lanes of highway traffic, sometimes waiting on a small median — and too often, crossing against a light to get to school on time.
The underpass will also connect neighborhoods south of the highway to sections of the Luce Line Trail leading to Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.
The rest of the redesigned intersection is meant to make it easier for drivers to navigate between the highway, the frontage road and Douglas Drive.
Work on the intersection and underpass will start Tuesday. The city expects some closures of the highway and Douglas Drive through the construction this summer.
