I-94 commuters to yield space for bus lane’s return

A stretch from Hwy. 280 to I-35W will get new road paint, new overhead signs and, in a move that will surprise some commuters, a bit less of that temporary fourth lane.

By JIM FOTI, Star Tribune

Last update: October 8, 2008 - 11:00 PM

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When Interstate 94 between Hwy. 280 and I-35W reopens Sunday after a weekend closure, there will be new road paint, new overhead signs and, in a move that will surprise some commuters, a bit less of that temporary fourth lane.

Between the Riverside Avenue exit and the 25th Avenue entrance, the westbound freeway will have three lanes instead of the four that were painted shortly after the 35W bridge collapsed.

The shoulder will be restored in that half-mile stretch to once again give buses a way to bypass congestion, said Wayne Norris, an engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

For drivers, the dropped lane has definite bottleneck potential.

"Certainly, there's going to be an effect on traffic," said Kevin Gutknecht, MnDOT's communications director. "It's not an easy decision either way."

The change means that westbound 94 will go from four lanes to three, then to four, and then back to three in the mile and a half between the Mississippi River and downtown.

MnDOT, the Metropolitan Council, the Federal Highway Administration and the cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul arrived at the decision jointly, Norris said.

When the fourth lanes were added, many drivers rejoiced, but transit riders were less enthusiastic because buses lost what's called a "transit advantage" -- the ability to pass slow or stopped traffic by driving on the shoulder. Transit advantages also can mean more federal money for operating costs.

About 60 Metro Transit buses carry westbound passengers through the area during the morning rush hour, and they had exclusive use of the shoulder prior to the bridge collapse. A total of 220 buses, including empty ones going to downtown Minneapolis to pick up riders, head west on weekdays, said Bob Gibbons, Metro Transit spokesman.

In the fourth week of September, about 173,000 vehicles used the stretch of highway each weekday, Norris said. More vehicles used the route when the 35W bridge was out, but traffic is now very close to pre-collapse levels.

On the eastbound side, the four lanes will remain throughout the 3-mile section, though the ramp to 280 northbound will be a one-lane exit instead of the current two.

The configurations put in place this weekend will remain until next summer, when a study on converting the fourth lane into a managed lane are complete, Norris said. There has been discussion of turning the added lanes into carpool-toll lanes similar to the ones on I-394 and running such lanes all the way from John Ireland Boulevard in St. Paul to downtown Minneapolis.

If managed lanes are deemed feasible, they would be built starting in 2010, MnDOT said. If not, the bus shoulders would be restored.

Completely closed

I-94 will close in both directions starting Friday night at 10 p.m. The westbound lanes are set to reopen at 9 a.m. Sunday, the eastbound lanes at noon. Getting all the work done before the noon kickoff of the Vikings game at the Metrodome "is definitely the goal," said Beth Petrowske, a MnDOT spokeswoman.

This weekend's work includes new signs, and the temporary striping applied in August 2007 "will be refreshed," the agency said.

MnDOT did not offer an official detour. Norris suggested that drivers use 35W, Hwy. 36 and Interstate 35E.

Heavy rain could delay this weekend's work, but Norris was optimistic that the weather would cooperate.

Further complicating weekend traffic in the Twin Cities is the closure of eastbound Interstate 494 on the Richfield/Bloomington border, from east of 35W to Nicollet Avenue. That closure will take place from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.

Jim Foti • 612-673-4491