Editing Interstate 694 (section)

==History==
The original beltway around the Twin Cities was [[Minnesota State Highway 100|MN&nbsp;100]]. The portion of I-694 running east from the current MN&nbsp;100 in Brooklyn Center through New Brighton and MN&nbsp;100 was part of that original beltway. There was a two-lane bridge across the Mississippi river where the current I-694 bridge is today. That bridge was constructed as part of a defense initiative authorized in 1942 at the beginning of US involvement [[World War II]].<ref name="Minn1942">{{cite book|author=Northern Pump Company|title=News Stories of the Northern Pump Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota, from September 24th, 1940-&#91;Nov. 9, 1942&#93;.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QvghAQAAMAAJ|date=1942 |oclc = 62416184}}</ref>

The construction of I-694 to [[Interstate standards]] was authorized in 1956. The first section of I-694 completed was between US&nbsp;10 at [[Arden Hills, Minnesota|Arden Hills]] to I-35E at Little Canada in the early 1960s. The last section of I-694 completed was between I-35E at Little Canada to its junction with I-94 and I-494 at [[Oakdale, Minnesota|Oakdale]]–[[Woodbury, Minnesota|Woodbury]], completed by the early 1970s.

I-694 was built as the main thoroughfare for the northern suburbs of [[Minneapolis–Saint Paul]]. These include the cities of Maple Grove, Brooklyn Park, Brooklyn Center, Fridley, [[New Brighton, Minnesota|New Brighton]], Arden Hills, [[Shoreview, Minnesota|Shoreview]], [[Little Canada, Minnesota|Little Canada]], [[Vadnais Heights, Minnesota|Vadnais Heights]], [[White Bear Lake, Minnesota|White Bear Lake]], [[Maplewood, Minnesota|Maplewood]], Pine Springs, and Oakdale.

The original design of I-694 had problems with "weave" interchanges. The Unweave the Weave construction project, completed between 2004 and 2008, disentangled I-694 and I-35E at Little Canada–Vadnais Heights. The project was designed around several factors, a few of which included increasing freeway traffic capacity, increasing driver safety, and eliminating weaving and lane changes (eliminating "geometric deficiencies"), hence the name of the project, "Unweave the Weave". This weaving was the case for most drivers prior to 2005, before most of the road reconstruction work on the interchanges was done. As a result of lane changing and constant congestion, many accidents occurred on the interchange after its completion in the early 1970s.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/unweave/overview.html/ |title = Unweave the Weave Project Overview |publisher = Minnesota Department of Transportation |access-date = May 30, 2023 |archive-date = February 2, 2008 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080202050338/http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/unweave/overview.html |url-status = dead }}</ref> The current layout of the two Interstates now provides for safer exits and entrances, minimal congestion, and better road surface durability. The project also realigned the two interstates to improve the infrastructure of the highway from an asphalt surface to a complete concrete surface. Numerous bridges were rebuilt, including the residential streets of Edgerton Street and Labore Road in [[Vadnais Heights, Minnesota|Vadnais Heights]].

The [[Minnesota Department of Transportation]] (MnDOT) updated the overlapped section between  I-694 and I-35E to increase the number of lanes from six (three in each direction) to 12 (six in each direction) and eliminated the requirement to change lanes through the area. The section was rebuilt in concrete instead of asphalt and noise walls were added.{{cn|date=May 2023}}

Another construction project, the I-35W/US 10/I-694 North Central Corridor Reconstruction Project, also designed to reduce unnecessary traffic crossovers on the highway, began in September 2011. This project eliminated the weaving movements of I-694 at its interchange with [[U.S. Route 10 in Minnesota|US&nbsp;10]] and [[Minnesota State Highway 51|MN&nbsp;51]] in Arden Hills. This interchange often created one of the worst bottlenecks in the Twin Cities because drivers need to change at least one lane to continue either direction on I-694 between MN&nbsp;51 (Snelling Avenue) and US&nbsp;10. When the construction project was completed, the roadway of I-694 included two through lanes in each direction from I-35W at New Brighton to US&nbsp;10 at Arden Hills, three through lanes in each direction from US&nbsp;10 in Arden Hills to Rice Street at Shoreview–Little Canada, and five through lanes in each direction from Rice Street to the I-694/I-35E interchange, compared with the two to three lanes throughout the I-694 corridor.<ref>{{cite web |author = Minnesota Department of Transportation |url = http://www.dot.state.mn.us/enhance694/index.html |title = I-694 Project in Arden Hills |publisher = Minnesota Department of Transportation |date = November 2017 }}</ref> Construction on the North Central Corridor project began the week of September 19, 2011. Work was completed in November 2013, at an estimated cost of $185.5 million (equivalent to ${{formatprice|{{inflation|US-GDP|185500000|2013}}}} in {{inflation-year|US-GDP}}{{inflation-fn|US-GDP}}).<ref>{{cite book |author= Minnesota Department of Transportation |date= July 2007 |chapter= III. Alternatives |title= I-694: 35E to 35W Environmental Assessment |url= http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/694expand/pdfs/finalea.pdf |type= Report |publisher= Minnesota Department of Transportation |page= 15 |access-date= May 26, 2012 |archive-date= August 24, 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130824020615/http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/694expand/pdfs/finalea.pdf |url-status= dead }}<!--Environmental impact statement, delineating estimated construction cost and construction aspects of project --></ref>