Getting out of downtown Minneapolis should soon become easier for afternoon commuters. The Portland Avenue bridge over I-94 is scheduled to re-open at 6 p.m. Friday.

Along with the bridge's opening, Portland Avenue between E. 16th Street and E. 17th Street will re-open. At the same time, the segment of Portland between E. 18th Street and E. 19th Street that changed to accommodate detoured traffic will revert back to a one-way street with traffic heading south.

For those wondering, the Park Avenue bridge won't reopen until sometime in September, so commuters who have been using alternate routes since construction started in May.

The suggested detour for Park Avenue drivers is to follow Franklin Avenue to Chicago Avenue and then back to Park Avenue via E. 17th Street.

The $5.7 million projects include building new bridge decks and railings, replacing beams and upgrading pedestrian crossings at the intersections of Park and Portland Avenues at both 17th Street and 18th Street to meet accessibility standards.

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