Photos by Deb Gau Above: Among the signs at the intersection of Lyon County Road 7 and Minnesota Highway 23 in Marshall is a notice about construction planned to start Monday. At right: Area residents asked questions about the detour and construction at an open house meeting with the Minnesota Department of Transportation on Thursday.

MARSHALL — Construction is scheduled to begin Monday on a reduced conflict intersection, or “J-turn,” at the intersection of Minnesota Highway 23 and Lyon County Road 7 in Marshall. The project will help reduce crashes at the intersection, but construction will mean a detour for traffic on County Road 7 this summer, representatives from the Minnesota Department of Transportation said Thursday.

MnDOT held an informational meeting on the construction at the Marshall-Lyon County Library.

Construction supervisor Ben Sandoz said construction on the Highway 23/County Road 7 intersection will start Monday, weather permitting.

“That could get pushed back a bit,” depending on whether there is rain early next week, he said. Construction is scheduled to end July 27.

Highway 23 will stay open during construction, Sandoz said, but access to the highway from County Road 7 (also known as the Marshall airport road) will be closed. There will be a detour in place, on Minnesota Highway 19 in Marshall, U.S. Highway 59, and Lyon County Road 20. On Highway 23, one lane of traffic in each direction will be open through the work zone.

Sandoz said Lyon County also has plans this summer to replace a box culvert on County Road 7 south of the Highway 23 intersection. MnDOT’s intent was do the reduced-conflict intersection project at the same time the county is doing its work, he said.

Construction will cost $2.1 million, MnDOT said. In addition to building the J-turn part of the reduced conflict intersection, MnDOT will build an acceleration lane for southbound traffic turning right onto Highway 23.

A 2016 study on the Highway 23 corridor in Marshall identified priorities for safety improvements on the highway. The study recommended construction of a reduced conflict intersection at Highway 23 and Lyon Street, as well as one at Highway 23 and County Road 7. The reduced conflict intersection at Lyon Street was built last year.

A reduced conflict intersection is designed to cut down on right-angle crashes, MnDOT representatives said. Instead of crossing lanes of oncoming traffic to get to the other side of the intersection, motorists instead use a system of turn lanes and U-turns to get across. That way, drivers only have to deal with traffic traveling in the same direction they are.