Sherburne County Seeks Input on $59 Million Highway 10 and County Road 11 Interchange

(KNSI) – Drivers who have sat waiting at the Highway 10 and County Road 11 intersection in Becker Township while a train rolls through will get a chance to help shape the fix this week.

Sherburne County is holding an open house on Tuesday from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. at the Becker Community Center, 11500 Sherburne Avenue. People can look over the proposed design, ask questions and share their input.

According to the county, the intersection is a key route for commuters, truckers, emergency responders and travelers heading through the region. It’s also one of the area’s trouble spots. A traffic signal sits right next to the Burlington Northern Santa Fe rail line that runs alongside Highway 10, so frequent trains back up traffic. The result is daily congestion and a crash rate higher than normal for an intersection like it.

The county is studying several options that would separate car traffic from the tracks, most likely with an interchange that carries County Road 11 over the railroad and Highway 10. Getting rid of the railroad crossing at road level is the project’s top goal. Planners will also weigh traffic flow, safety, property impacts, environmental concerns, construction staging and cost before settling on a design.

The total project is estimated at $59 million. The county is applying for a $25 million federal BUILD grant (Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development) from the U.S. Department of Transportation to help pay for it. The planning and environmental review is expected to wrap up by the end of 2026, which would put the county in line for more funding and, eventually, construction.

County officials stress that the project is separate from the ongoing study of a new Highway 25 Mississippi River crossing. The two are being coordinated, but the interchange plans won’t decide where a future river bridge goes. Every Highway 25 option is still on the table.

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