Extra lanes on I-94 won't disappear

Last update: August 29, 2008 - 9:39 PM

Those extra lanes on Interstate 94 between downtown Minneapolis and Hwy. 280 won't disappear when the new Interstate 35W bridge opens, Gov. Tim Pawlenty announced on his radio show Friday.

The lanes will stay open while the state studies turning them into carpool/toll lanes or another type of managed lanes, Pawlenty said from WCCO-AM's booth at the Minnesota State Fair.

The formerly six-lane stretch of I-94 was restriped last August, a few weeks after the bridge collapse, to accommodate the increased number of vehicles using the route to cross the Mississippi River.

The lanes are narrower than those on other metro-area freeways, and shoulders have been eliminated in much of the 3-mile corridor, posing challenges for state troopers and snowplow drivers.

The lanes are "not the total solution," but they helped reduce congestion, Pawlenty said. He gave no time frame for the study, which involves the Minnesota Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Council and federal highway officials.

The 35W bridge is 98 percent complete. MnDOT says it will open between mid-September and mid-October.

JIM FOTI

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