County Road J & I-35E Interchange

County Road J from Centerville Road to Otter Lake Road – including the interchange with I-35E – is scheduled for reconstruction in 2025. Ramsey County is leading the project in partnership with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, Anoka County, White Bear Township, North Oaks, and Lino Lakes.

The existing I-35E and County Road J interchange –and the surrounding area – serves several businesses, residential neighborhoods, and communities along the I-35E corridor and has several safety, congestion, and access issues that impact pedestrians, bicyclists and motorists. Additional development is expected near the interchange in the next five years, which will increase traffic and worsen safety issues.

Two areas are targeted for improvement:

• The I-35E and County Road J interchange.
• County Road J from Centerville Road to Otter Lake Road, including improvements on Centerville Road and Otter Lake Road related to intersection reconstruction.

In addition, Anoka County is leading a separate project regarding improvements at the intersection of Centerville Road and North Ash Street.

The planned roadway improvements for this project make the partial connection at the existing interchange whole by providing access from southbound I-35E and access to northbound I-35E. Additional improvements along County Road J (Ash Street) between Centerville Road and Otter Lake Road will address the lack of non-motorized accommodations along the road. During construction, the bridge over I-35E will be replaced and improvements will be made to stormwater management through the construction of stormwater ponds.

Subscribe to County Road J and I-35E updates

Timeline

• Environmental analysis, preliminary design and community engagement: fall 2021 to 2024.
• Final design and community engagement: 2024.
• Construction: Begins in the Summer of 2025.
• Tree removal will occur between December 2024 and April 2025, on the north side of County Road J, next to I-35E, and on the west side of Centerville Road.

Community engagement

Community engagement has been a key factor throughout the concept development and analysis phase and continues to be important as the project advances into the preliminary design process.

Upcoming community engagement opportunities:

Spring 2025 Open House (TBD)
Learn more about the project and share your feedback with project staff at pop-up events in the project area. Subscribe to County J and I35E project updates to get alerted when the open house is scheduled.

Past community engagement included:

• Online comment map from December 2021 to January 2022 to collect community feedback on safety, pedestrian and bicyclist access, congestion and access to businesses and neighborhoods.
• A virtual open house in September 2022 (StoryMap) was available to provide details on the 8 concept alternatives being considered and collect community feedback. There were also “Virtual Office Hours” which provided opportunities to connect live with Ramsey and Anoka County staff to ask questions and provide feedback during virtual meetings. 
• An in-person open house was held in July 2023 where a preferred concept was reviewed along with additional project materials. 
  • Meeting summary (PDF)
• An in-person open house was held in May 2024 where a final design concept was reviewed along with additional project materials.
• An in-person open house was held in September 2024 where the final design, construction impacts, and maintenance of traffic during construction were reviewed along with additional project materials.