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Area road closures include Highway 91, Highway 67

Two area state highways will be closed this fall — although for very different reasons.

In a road construction update released this week, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said Minnesota Highway 91 south of Russell will be closing down for construction. In a separate announcement, MnDOT said a damaged portion of roadway on Minnesota Highway 67 near Granite Falls will stay closed into next year.

A detour will be in place on Highway 91 between Russell and U.S. Highway 14 starting this week, MnDOT said. The construction is part of a larger project on Highway 91, that also includes road work in Nobles County, between Adrian and Lismore.

The detour in Lyon County would be in place by Wednesday at the earliest, with Monday, July 29 as a backup date, MnDOT said. Traffic on Highway 91 will be detoured west on Highway 14 and north on Minnesota Highway 23. The detour will be in place until the middle of November.

The situation is more serious on Highway 67 southeast of Granite Falls, MnDOT said. Part of the road between the Upper Sioux Agency State Park entrance and 600th Street has shifted, and caused part of the driving lane to drop significantly. The road has been closed since April, and MnDOt has barricades in place around the closed section.

The situation isn’t going to change anytime soon. MnDOT said the closed portion of Highway 67 will stay closed into 2020.

In a news release this week, MnDOT said more study is needed before the road can be repaired. MnDOT has been using instrumentation to measure the depth of movement below ground, the depth of groundwater, and the saturation of the soil under the road. The embankment has moved at a consistent rate of about an inch per day at the main pavement crack, MnDOT said. Plus, there’s significant movement 50 feet below the road surface.

Traffic will continue to be detoured on Highway 23, Highway 274, and Yellow Medicine County Road 18 until further notice.

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