Bridge demolition to close I-35W this weekend

Interstate Hwy. 35W will be shut down this weekend as crews knock down the 46th Street bridge in south Minneapolis.

Star Tribune

Last update: April 23, 2008 - 11:31 PM

Significant stretches of Interstate Hwy. 35W will be closed in south Minneapolis this weekend while crews demolish the 46th Street bridge that crosses the highway, authorities said Thursday.

The State Patrol says it will be using "extraordinary enforcement to ensure that motorists stay out of closed areas."

The following will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday:

• All lanes of northbound Interstate Hwy. 35W, from Interstate 494 north to I-94 and all lanes of southbound 35W from I-94 south to Hwy. 62.

• All lanes of Hwy. 62, from Penn Avenue east to the western junction of I-35W.

Detours will be posted.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will begin taking the 46th Street bridge down at 9 a.m. as part of the Interstate Hwy. 35W/Hwy. 62 Crosstown reconstruction project. The bridge will not reopen until 2009.

Drivers will encounter lane closures on the bridge between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. today and Friday as crews prepare for demolition.

In an unrelated project, drivers in Hastings will encounter lane closings on the Hwy. 61 bridge over the Mississippi River from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays until May 2. Crews will be erecting a temporary platform that will hold equipment and workers when a maintenance and painting project begins this year.

TIM HARLOW