An east-west artery that runs through one of the largest undeveloped areas adjacent to Interstate 494 is being considered for expansion.

Increasing traffic is expected along Dakota County 26 (Lone Oak Road in Eagan and 70th Street in Inver Grove Heights) as soon next summer with the arrival of the new Vikings headquarters and will likely continue over the next 20 years.

Last month the county, in partnership with Eagan and Inver Grove Heights, hired consulting engineering firm Kimley-Horn and Associates to study 2 miles of the road — from Dodd Road (Minnesota 55) to South Robert Trail (Minnesota 3) — where there are now two lanes.

An open house will be held Monday for area residents and business owners to learn more about the project and give feedback to county and city officials.

Jenna Fabish, a Dakota County transportation senior project manager, said the study will look into expanding the road to four lanes and adding turn lanes at all public roadways. Building trails on both sides of the highway to connect to the county’s greenway system will also be explored.

The study will review existing traffic volume and determine what traffic will be like in 30 years based on development plans, Fabish said.

County traffic counts show the 2-mile segment of the road carries about 6,700 vehicles a day. The county’s 2030 plan forecasts an increase to 17,000 vehicles.

In Inver Grove Heights, the road runs through about 1,200 acres of untouched land, where major residential and retail growth is expected over the next 20 years.

“There’s lots of change happening over there,” said Joe Lynch, Inver Grove Heights city administrator, noting the area’s first developments — with 430 single-family homes — are underway. “It’s a good thing.”

In Eagan, the road abuts the southern end of the Vikings’ 200 acres, where the team is building its headquarters and indoor and outdoor practice facilities. The Vikings’ plans call for retail, restaurants, offices, a hotel and conference center and up to 1,000 apartments over the next 10 to 15 years.

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The Vikings will host training camp at their Eagan campus starting next summer. In recent years, about 60,000 fans on average traveled to Mankato to watch the camp, which runs for nearly three weeks.

The new Vikings’ traffic “has to go somewhere,” Lynch said. “It’s not all going to go back into Eagan.”

Meanwhile, Mendota Heights, on the north side of I-494, is also preparing for development. The city recently began studying how traffic from the Vikings development will affect the city’s portion of Dodd Road, which runs through residential neighborhoods down to Eagan.

Project representatives will be at Monday’s open house, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. in Community Room 1 at Veterans Memorial Community Center, 8055 Barbara Ave., Inver Grove Heights.

Fabish said the county hopes to present the study’s recommendations to the public next spring and have a preliminary plan in place by the summer. She said the county is aiming the project for 2020, but that could change based on what comes out of the study.