Drivers can expect the orange barrels blocking off part of a travel lane on Highway 43 North near the Highway 11 and Highway 43 intersection to be in place for at least a week, said MDOT Engineer Dexter Childs.

A short stretch of the travel lane on Highway 43 North has been closed for drainage work that is part of the Highway 11 expansion project. The contractor is placing a catch basin for storm water runoff in the channel from Highway 11 to Highway 43, said Childs. The project requires excavation right up to the travel lane. The catch basin will need to be backfilled before traffic can be allowed in that lane again.

Drainage work along Highway 11 will continue for a while, said Childs, but the asphalt base work is also beginning.

A crew began asphalt base work on Wednesday along Highway 11 at the south end of the project. The crew working on the base of the section of the road that is being expanded will continue to follow behind the drainage work as it is completed.

A crew is also about to start drainage work on the north end of Highway 11 past Highland Community Hospital, said Childs.

Poles for temporary light signals at the intersection of Highway 11 and Highway 43 are set to go up soon, said Childs. Installation of those poles should not have an impact on the flow of traffic. The current traffic pattern along Highway 11 is not expected to shift again for the next several months.

Construction has not been impeded by the pandemic, said Childs. Although some of the administrative staff in MDOT had to be put on leave, construction work has not slowed down, he said.