The replacement for the Xerxes Avenue bridge over I-494 that's part of a project to add a lane to the freeway will apparently go ahead this fall despite being shorter than originally planned.

Scott Pedersen, the West Metro District engineer for the Minnesota Department of Transportation, told Richfield City Council members during a special work session this week that the agency doesn't want to spend the extra money to rebuild the bridge wide enough to accommodate a 26-foot transit lane that could one day be used for light rail transit, a high-occupancy vehicle lane or some other transit need.

Instead, he said, MnDOT would take the chance that lane won't be needed in the future. No department or Metro Council plans for I-494 include a transit lane. If one needs to be built in the future, Pedersen said, the agency would tear down the bridge and build a wider one.

The department doesn't want to build the more expensive bridge if the extra capacity isn't needed, he said.

Pedersen's comments got a cool reception from council members and City Administrator Steve Devich, who pointed out that the Richfield spent a considerable amount to purchase property when the I-494 bridges at Lyndale and Penn avenues were constructed with room for the additional 26 feet.

"We got clobbered for it," Devich told Pedersen at the meeting. "Part of the money would have helped us with an underpass at Trunk Highway 77," a project the city would like to undertake to connect southeast Richfield with Bloomington and the Mall of America area.

MnDOT needs the city's permission to go ahead with the I-494 project as designed.

The additional, or auxiliary lane, that affects Richfield would be added wesbound only between the entrance ramp from Portland Avenue to the Nicollet Avenue exit ramp. Another auxiliary lane would be built westbound between the I-35W entrance loop to the exit ramp on Highway 100.

The council also learned:
•  MnDOT will ask residents and property owners on the north side of the freeway between Penn and Xerxes whether they would like a noise wall constructed as part of the project.
• The department will host an open house Jan. 31 to hear from residents about the project.
•  The entire freeway will be resurfaced from 34th Avenue to Highway 100.
• The project will require lane closures and occasional detours.
•  If approvals happen on schedule, the contract would be let in early June, construction would begin in August and the project would be completed in the fall of 2013.