Beginning May 15, motorists traveling in northern Minnesota can expect to see crews installing new or upgrading Road Weather Information Systems (RWIS) stations, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

No detours are required for this project and work will be completed under traffic with flagging operations when lane closures are required for everyone’s safety.

The new RWIS locations:

• Highway 61 near Grand Marais (Milepost 110.8)
• Hwy 61 near Schroeder (MP 78.9)
• Hwy 1 near Stony River (MP 309.9)
• I-35 near Moose Lake (MP 216)
• Hwy 53 near Piedmont Ave., Duluth (MP 2.7)
• Hwy 2 near Solway (MP 99.7)
• Hwy 1 near Warren (MP 11.5)
• Hwy 11 near Karlstad (MP 37.7)
• Hwy 371 near Nisswa (MP 46.2)
• Hwy 169 near Princeton (MP 176.9)

Three current RWIS sites will receive upgrades. The locations include Hwy 61 near Grand Portage, Hwy 38 near Marcell and Hwy 171 near St. Vincent.

Each RWIS site is an environmental sensor station used to collect weather data like temperatures, wind speed, pavement conditions and visibility. RWIS sites also offer camera views of the highway.

MnDOT uses the data gathered from each site and camera images for maintenance decision support. The information is also sent to the National Weather Service and MnDOT’s 511 traveler information system.

Once construction is complete, there will be 163 RWIS sites throughout Minnesota.

This project will cost $1.5 million and is scheduled to be complete in September 2023 and the contractor is Design Electric