Major closure on I-35W and Blue Line maintenance highlight weekend traffic disruptions

Photo by Jeff Wheeler

First for a nugget of good news: the ramp from westbound Interstate 94 to 11th Street in downtown Minneapolis opens Saturday.

Now for the really bad news: Most of I-35W from Richfield to Arden Hills will be closed until Monday.
The summer construction season has hit fever pitch with the 15-mile I-35W closure which will funnel traffic onto the official detour of Hwy. 100, but expect other routes such as Hwy. 36, Interstate 94 and 35E and many city streets and county roads to pick up the slack.

Blue Line riders can expect delays of 10 to 15 minutes all along the entire line between 1 a.m. Saturday and 3:30 a.m. Monday. Metro Transit will be conducting maintenance work in the tunnel at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport.

Traffic generating events include the WNBA All-Star Game Saturday at Target Center and the Loring Park Art Festival running through Sunday in Minneapolis. The St. Paul Saints have home games at CHS Field in downtown St. Paul.

Here is your weekend road construction roundup:

Minneapolis

2. Interstate 94: Reduced to two lanes between Chicago and Portland Avenues. Ramp from westbound I-94 to 11th Street will open Saturday.

3. Penn Avenue N.: Closed for C-Line bus rapid transit line construction from 23rd to Lowry avenues and 35th to Dowling avenues.

4. Hennepin Avenue S.: Closed from 31st to 36th streets.

5. NE. Broadway Street: Closed from Stinson Boulevard to Industrial Boulevard until fall.

St. Paul

7. Hwy. 149/Smith Avenue: The High Bridge over the Mississippi River is closed until December.

East Metro

8. Hwy. 149/Dodd Road in West St. Paul: Closed from Delaware Avenue to Wentworth Avenue and narrow lanes from Hwy. 110 to Lake Drive.

9. Hwy. 95 in Afton: Closed both directions between Bailey Road and 70th Street until Sept. 7.

North Metro

11. Hwy. 10 in Elk River: Reduced to one lane in both directions between Waco Street and Upland Avenue.

12. Hwy. 169 in Champlin: Single lane traffic in both directions between Hwy. 610 and East Hayden Lake Road.

South Metro

13. Hwy. 13 in Burnsville: Single lane with flaggers from I-35W to I-494 in Mendota.

14. Hwy. 50 in Farmington: Single lane with flaggers between Hwy. 3 and Hwy. 52.

16. 66th Street in Richfield: Closed to through traffic between Humboldt and Portland avenues S. Ramps to and from I-35W closed.

West Metro

17. Hwy. 41 in Chaska: Closed in both directions from Hundertmark Road and Pioneer Trail until Sept. 3.

18. Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie: Closed from Charlson Road and Spring Road.

19. Crosstown Hwy. 62 in Edina: Ramps from Gleason Road to westbound Hwy. 62, eastbound Hwy. 62 to northbound Hwy. 169 and southbound Hwy. 169 to eastbound Hwy. 62 closed.