The Minnesota Department of Transportation on Wednesday announced a nearly $900 million transportation construction program for 2011.

The 258 projects include further construction this summer of the interchange for U.S. Highway 14 and Interstate 35. Motorists can expect the southbound lanes of I-35 near Owatonna to be closed and traffic shifted into the new northbound lanes MnDOT constructed last summer.

There will be traffic delays, much like last summer, and motorists can expect increased patrols in the construction zone to curb speeding and reduce crashes.

The work is part of MnDOT’s long-term efforts to make Highway 14 four lanes from Rochester to Mankato. By June 2012, motorists will be able to drive on four lanes between Mankato and Owatonna.

The new lanes for U.S. 14 between Owatonna and Waseca were built last summer. MnDOT this season is constructing the crossover ramps and connections. Its price tag is $51.7 million, with $23.3 million to be spent in 2011.

A second portion of the work the state calls the Waseca bypass is estimated at $56 million, with $8 million to be spent this summer.

Some finishing work for both portions is slated for spring 2012 before the four-lane freeway opens.

The segment between state Highway 60 and Janesville was completed in 2004. Janesville to near Waseca was finished in 2006.

When the Owatonna-Waseca segment opens, the only remaining two-lane segment of U.S. 14 between Mankato and Rochester will be between Dodge Center and Owatonna, running through Claremont.

That project is not funded, but MnDOT has finished the environmental impact statement for making the stretch four lanes should funding become available.

Other major projects Albert Lea area residents might encounter this summer include:

• Resurfacing of Minnesota Highway 30 between Highway 13 in New Richland and Ellendale from July to October. The estimated price tag is $2.5 million. Drivers can expect lane closures.

• Installing “intelligent transportation system devices” on Interstate 35 in Freeborn, Rice and Steele counties. The fancy term really means traffic cameras, sensors and overhead changeable message signs. The estimated cost is $1.1 million, and the work is slated for June through October.

• Installing tower lighting at the cloverleaf interchange for I-35 and Interstate 90. The cost is estimated at $410,620, with work taking place during June and July and with minimal impact on motorists.

• Resurfacing nearly 11 miles of the westbound lanes of Interstate 90 between U.S. Highway 63 (the Stewartville exit) and Olmsted County Road 19, which is about a mile east of the U.S. Highway 52 exit. The work begins in July and ends in October. Expect lane closures and flaggers. The cost is estimated at $3 million.

• Resurfacing U.S. Highway 14 in Rochester, to include upgrading the traffic signals and intersections, between May and September. The project will have lane closures and is estimated to cost just shy of $6 million.

• Repairing concrete on U.S. Highway 14 between Kasson and Byron from May to July, with an estimated price tag of $2.6 million. Expect lane closures.

• Resurfacing U.S. Highway 218 in Mower County from the Iowa border to I-90. The work starts in July and runs through September, with a price tag of $3.5 million. Drivers can expect lane closures and flaggers.

• Sealing cracks in various state highways in Dodge, Fillmore, Freeborn, Goodhue, Mower, Olmsted, Rice, Wabasha and Winona counties.

• Constructing an interchange for U.S. Highway 14 and Nicollet County Road 41 in North Mankato and making two miles of U.S. 14 a four-lane highway. The work starts in August of this year and ending in August of 2012. The cost is estimated at $15 to $18 million, with a 2011 cost of $3 million.

• Restoration of the pavement on Highway 30 between Amboy and Mapleton, starting in June and ending in August. The cost is slated at $5.6 million, with a two-stage detour on local roads.

• Resurfacing I-90 for one mile west of the exit for U.S. Highway 71 in September, at a $200,000 cost.

• Resurfacing eastbound I-90 in Winona County from Highway 43 to Highway 76, at a cost of $8.7 million. The work starts in May and runs through September. Expect lane closures and interchange closures.

• Constructing a new interchange and frontage roads for U.S. 52 near Pine Island. The two-year project removes 18 access points and has a cost of $34.3 million, with a 2011 cost of $20 million. This is the second year of work, which is part of MnDOT’s long-term goal of making U.S. 52 a freeway between Rochester and St. Paul. MnDOT calls the project the Elk Run interchange because of a 2,325-acre master-planned, mixed-use development between Oronoco and Pine Island called Elk Run.

• Constructing a MnPass lane in the median of I-35W from the split of I-35W and I-35E to the Burnsville Parkway, starting in July and ending in October. The cost is estimated at $12.7 million, with lane closures and delays.

• Resurfacing I-35W from the Burnsville Parkway to Highway 13 in Burnsville, at a cost of $635,000, between this month and October. It is part of the MnPass Extension project.

The projects MnDOT announced Wednesday include upgrading the Highway 169/Interstate 494 interchange in the Twin Cities, rebuilding the Highway 52/Lafayette Bridge in St. Paul, and the second year of a bridge and pavement replacement project on a section of I-35 in Duluth.

Other projects will improve safety at railroad crossings, repair seawalls and docks, make improvements on runways and terminals at regional airports, and remodel a transit facility.

Gov. Mark Dayton said the projects will support thousands of jobs, from construction workers to others in support industries.

With all of the work zones that will be operating across the state, MnDOT Commissioner Tom Sorel is encouraging motorists to drive with caution and plan ahead.