Text option for travel and project alerts now available

MANKATO — Travelers in 13 southcentral and southwest Minnesota counties are now able to get text messages for state highway advisories, construction project updates, and public participation opportunities in the region. The counties included are: Blue Earth, Brown, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Le Sueur, Martin, Nicollet, Nobles, Rock, Sibley, Waseca, and Watonwan.

While people have been able to sign up for emails to stay informed of construction projects and studies, travelers now have the option of being notified by text of road situations that will help them make informed travel decisions or let them know of occasions when they can provide feedback and learn about upcoming projects and events.

Some of the situations where a text may be issued:

• Road closures (e.g., winter hazards, crashes, road repairs, construction)

• Travel advisories (e.g., flooding, weather-related situations, pavement buckles)

• In-person meetings and events

• Online surveys and events

To sign up for text alerts, go to the MnDOT website for southcentral Minnesota at https://www.dot.state.mn.us/d7/index.html and look for “Email and text updates” under the “Connect with us” heading. Click the link and choose to receive messages via email or text. (Subscribers must choose either email or text, however, a text message alert will also trigger an email due to the way the software program works). Then, choose “Construction Projects,” “South Central MN (MnDOT District 7)” to subscribe to specific projects. Choose “Travel Alerts” and select “South Central MN Travel Alerts (MnDOT District 7)” and any other areas for which you would like to receive notifications. An image of current subscription topics is below. Topics with a cellphone icon are available for text messages.

People may also sign up for project updates by choosing the “Sign up for project email updates” directly from individual project webpages that have the update option. MnDOT reminds motorists to not review texts while driving. Minnesota has a hands-free phone law. The law allows a drive to use their cell phone to make calls, text, listen to music or podcasts and get directions, but only by voice commands or single-touch activation without holding the phone.