Washington County officials will pay River Valley Christian Church $7.35 million to purchase its nearly 12-acre property in Lake Elmo and relocate the church.
The church property is needed to replace the last remaining stoplight on Minnesota 36 between Stillwater and Century Avenue with a $50 million grade-separated interchange with buttonhook-style ramps, county officials say.
Church officials signed the purchase agreement on Tuesday night; the county board is expected to approve it during its Dec. 16 meeting.
County and church officials have been negotiating for months over the purchase of the property at the southwest intersection of Minnesota 36 and Lake Elmo Avenue, an 11.88-acre parcel that is within the footprint of the new interchange.
The county’s initial offer of $2.3 million was rejected, but county officials were able to increase that number after considering a number of factors, including the value of the property, the expenses the church would incur to relocate, the public cost to redesign the interchange and the inflationary impact of the delay on project costs, said County Engineer Wayne Sandberg.
Redesigning the intersection around the church property, at 5900 Lake Elmo Ave. N., would have set the project back by at least two years, and alternative designs were estimated to increase the project costs as much as $5.2 million due to added right-of-way, engineering, inflation and new property impacts, Sandberg said.
“This agreement avoids millions of dollars in redesign and years of delay, and it’s very possible we would have had another tragic crash here,” Sandberg said. “This allows us to move forward.”
More than 200 crashes have occurred at the intersection of Minnesota 36 and Lake Elmo Avenue over the past 10 years, including three crashes – in 2018, 2024 and in May – that resulted in fatalities. An average of 57,000 vehicles pass through the intersection each day – 52,000 on Minnesota 36 and another 5,000 on Lake Elmo Avenue.
The new grade-separated interchange will improve safety, reduce congestion and improve bicycling and walkability in the area, Sandberg said.
Drivers no longer will be able to turn directly from one road to the other. Instead, the buttonhook-style ramps will provide access to Minnesota 36 through frontage roads and dedicated acceleration and deceleration lanes along the state highway, he said.
A rendering showing the design of a planned $40 million grade-separated interchange with buttonhook-style ramps that will be built at Minnesota Highway 36 and Lake Elmo Avenue. (Courtesy of Washington County)
“This is a positive outcome for everyone involved,” said County Commissioner Bethany Cox, who represents the area. “By working together, we’ve created a solution that allows our church partners to continue their mission in a new location while addressing a longstanding safety concern along Highway 36.”
Construction will start in the summer of 2026, and the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2027, Sandberg said.
Officials from River Valley, a nondenominational church, did not immediately respond to a query seeking comment.
Since its founding in 1995, River Valley has “grown into a thriving church with nearly 10,000 in attendance across 11 U.S. campuses and two international campuses with plans for further expansion in the future,” according to the church’s website.
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