MnDOT Sets August Open Houses On Highway 10 Interchange Designs

(KNSI) – St. Cloud residents will get a look next month at the three interchange designs still in the running for Highway 10.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has been narrowing alternatives for the study area where 15th Avenue Southeast and 12th Street Southeast (County Road 7) meet the highway. After working with the community and project partners, the team settled on three designs.

The work stems from a Highway 10 corridor study in southeast St. Cloud that MnDOT completed in 2023. Those results pointed to the need for a potential interchange on the northern end of the corridor, along with various improvements to the south.

MnDOT District 3 Principal Planner Tom Cruickshank told the St. Cloud City Council during a May work session that safety is the primary driver. The signalized intersection at 15th Avenue Southeast carries a crash rate higher than the state average.

Traffic volume is also a factor. Cruickshank said peak summer weekends push more than 40,000 vehicles through St. Cloud on a highway built in the 1960s for far less traffic.

Two public update and feedback sessions are scheduled for Thursday, August 13th. The first runs from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at St. Cloud Public Works, 1200 15th Avenue Southeast. The second is from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at Haven Town Hall, 4230 45th Avenue Southeast. Attendees will be able to learn about the benefits and considerations of each design and see how the options compare.

Construction remains years off. Cruickshank said project development typically takes three to five years, followed by several more years of design and construction. Decisions on whether to move forward are expected later this year or in early 2027.

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