As is the case every summer, there are road construction and other projects throughout the Northland that create road closures, detours, and other things for motorists to encounter.

Two such projects began on Monday, July 17. Last week, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced that they would begin constructing median crossovers on I-35 near the Atkinson Bridge in Carlton County as part of the $4.15 billion Atkinson Bridge Rehabilitation project on I-35 southbound over Carlton County Road 61. While creating traffic impacts on I-35, the project will create improved bridge conditions, geometrics, and load-carrying capacity to a minimum standard. It will also extend the useful life of the highway.

The City of Duluth announced an unrelated project that began on July 17.  The City notified the Northland that East Third Street will be closed from First Avenue East to Lake Avenue. Motorists can expect to see detour signs that will direct them to use Second Avenue East, East Fourth Street, and Lake Avenue.

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They added that the Lake Avenue intersection with Third Street will remain open at this time but it's expected to be closed beginning on July 31, 2023, to allow for further work in the intersection that is currently scheduled to last until October.

This closure is needed to allow for the installation of underground utilities in preparation for a complete intersection replacement.

Anyone seeking more information is encouraged to contact the City of Duluth Engineering Division at (218) 730-5200.

Motorists driving through any road construction site should allow extra time to reach their destination and be patient. Also, drive cautiously and be on the lookout for road crews who will be out throughout the areas of impact.

Minnesota real-time traffic and travel information is always readily available online by visiting 511mn.org.

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To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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