Where do those orange traffic cones all go during the winter?
MINNEAPOLIS -- On Wednesday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation released its list of 2023 construction projects signaling the beginning of road construction season across the state.
And, every year, WCCO viewers ask the Good Question: Where do all those orange cones go in the winter? (Thanks to Elizabeth from St. Cloud, Collin from New Brighton and Kevin from Minnetonka and many more.)
"The cones live everywhere, there's no one storage facility," said Jake Loesch, Director of Communications for MnDOT. "We have them all over."
Cones are stored in different places by the many entities that own them in Minnesota. MnDOT estimates they own 14,000 of them, which are stored in the garages of their more than 100 truck stations across the state. MnDOT uses them mostly to close roads or lanes for repair projects like pothole patching or guardrail maintenance. Cities and counties, who maintain up to 90% of the roadways in Minnesota, also own a fair share.
Companies like Warning Lites or Safety Signs also own plenty of construction cones as well. These are private traffic control companies that are generally subcontracted by road construction companies in Minnesota. MnDOT generally contracts out large construction projects to private companies who then turn to traffic control companies for executing the closure plans.
"We're the first ones in and the last ones out," said Patrick Donohue, President of Warning Lites.
At its headquarters in North Minneapolis sit 5,000 cones, which until last week were covered with snow.
"We have cones that are probably 10 years old and we have cones that last all of 10 minutes," Donohue said.
In addition to construction cones that are stored outside at Warning Lites' headquarters, they also have orange drums, pedestrian barricades, concrete barriers, flashing lights and signs that conform to MnDOT standards. They also have an area with newer, cleaner cones that are used for special events, like Vikings games or the Twin Cities Marathon.
"I think most people assume it's MnDOT or a city or county and they have their own equipment and they do their own, but for larger road construction projects, it's typically always a private company doing traffic control," said Donohue.
By this time next month, Donohue expects most of the traffic control equipment now sitting in its lot to be distributed along Minnesota roads as we enter road construction season.