Author: Jeff Strate

Photo of Jeff Strate

An Eden Prairie resident since 1994, Jeff has served as an organizer for local open-space initiatives and get-out-the-vote parks referenda. He has also served on the Eden Prairie Human Rights and Diversity Commission, conservation area task forces, the Southwest Light Rail Community Advisory Committee and the Board of Directors of the Minnesota Land Trust. Jeff studied journalism and mass communication at the U of MN and has been a producer/writer and occasional on-camera figure in the Twin Cities, New York, Boston, and Trenton. Jeff has written for websites and magazines and has produced award-winning access programing through Southwest Community Television (SWTV).

Weather permitting, construction crews will pour concrete on the light-rail span built over Nine Mile Creek and Flying Cloud Drive on Friday, Aug. 27. Flying Cloud Drive will be closed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. between the Flying Cloud Dog Park and the Performing Institute of Minnesota Arts High School (PIM). According to a project construction bulletin, detour signs will be posted in the area. The south access to the high school via Valley View Road and Flying Cloud Drive will remain open. If the rain continues on Friday, work will be completed from 6 a.m. to 2 p.m.…

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Orange and white traffic barrels and “RAMP CLOSED” signs have been shoe-horned along the entire 14.5-mile alignment of the future Green Line Extension light rail trains. Here’s what to expect to and from our local cul-de-sac havens and work, dining, parks, business and shopping districts. EDEN PRAIRIE Prairie Center Drive. Expect southbound and northbound lane closures from Technology Drive to Singletree Lane through July. Crews will be advancing bridge work and laying tracks.. I-494 / Flying Cloud Drive Area. I-494 off-ramp to Flying Cloud Drive is closed through the construction season.. I-494 on-ramp from Flying Cloud Drive is open to…

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Interested in taking your TikTok video to the next level? Eden Prairie teens have an opportunity to learn how to record and edit videos on their remote devices – free – for TikTok and beyond, from a TV production pro in August. This summer, Bloomington Community Access Television (BCAT) and Southwest Community Television (SWTV) are partnering for the third time to help teenagers begin making polished looking and sounding videos … with their phones. “The camp is going virtual this year. We have openings for our August camp,” says BCAT’s video director-instructor Ben Vinar. In previous years, “campers” have crafted…

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EDEN PRAIRIE Earthwork and the construction of retaining walls along the southern reach of the light rail tunnel under Highway 62 continues, according to a a Southwest Light Rail Transit (SWLRT) July 9 press release. The tunnel connects the City West Station in Eden Prairie to the approach to the Opus Station in Minnetonka. Prairie Center Drive, from Technology Drive to Singletree Lane: Ongoing bridge work will prompt Southbound and northbound lane closures through July. The I-494 (west) off-ramp to Flying Cloud Drive is closed for the 2021 construction season. The I-494 (east) on-ramp from Flying Cloud Drive is expected…

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An Interstate 494 improvement project that includes its Eden Prairie, Edina, Richfield and Bloomington corridor, has been awarded $60 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation. Initial fundings for the project were awarded by the Minnesota Department of Transportation beginning in 2018 for MnPASS lanes and the re-alignment of the I-35W and I-494 interchange. The project’s website notes that the work is designed to reduce traffic and improve safety along the 494 corridor. It will improve the I-35/I494 interchange and improve access approaches and ramps at Nicollet Avenue, Portland Avenue and 12th Avenue. In a news release issued on June…

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Flying Cloud Drive between Valley View Road and West 70th Street will be closed Monday June 28th between 5:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. In a news alert issued on June 24, the Southwest Light Rail Project said that construction crews will be installing bridge beams over Flying Cloud Drive to complete the bridge over Nine Mile Creek. Detour signs will be posted along the affected roads in the Golden Triangle District. The SWLRT Project recommends that drivers consider the detours indicated on the map below. SWLRT Construction info and updates CLICK HERE FOR MORE SWLRT UPDATES IN MINNETONKA AND EDEN…

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