Weekend traffic: Another Hwy. 100 closure, and big changes ahead on Monday

Let the real headaches begin for motorists who use Hwy. 100. This weekend the Minnesota Department of Transportation will close the highway to reconfigure a 2-mile segment through St. Louis Park.

When the highway reopens Monday morning, motorists will have only two lanes in each direction between Excelsior Blvd. and Cedar Lake Road with all traffic running on the current southbound lanes. Details on the weekend detour and next week's impact are below.

The Minnesota Twins try to extend their two-game winning streak with a weekend series with the Cleveland Indians at Target Field. Meanwhile a large USA Volleyball tournament Friday through Sunday at the Minneapolis Convention Center will bring extra traffic downtown. In St. Paul, the Swarm has a home lacrosse match at the Xcel Energy Center.

A number of other road projects will affect travel this weekend. Here is a rundown:

Highway 100

This is the biggie for the weekend. The highway in both directions will be closed between I-394 and the Crosstown Hwy. 62 from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. Ramps leading to Hwy. 100 along that stretch will close at 9 p.m.

The official detour will route motorists along Crosstown Hwy. 62 to Hwy. 169 and I-394.

The ramp from Hwy. 7 to northbound Hwy. 100 will be closed until the fall of 2016. Motorists will be able to access northbound Hwy. 100 at Excelsior Blvd.

In a traffic mitigation move, MnDOT is closing Westside Drive on the west side of Hwy. 100 south of the car dealership and there will be no access to Utica Avenue. The unscheduled closure is a result of too many drivers getting off Hwy. 100 to avoid the congestion and cutting through the adjacent neighborhood. The advice from MnDOT is "stay on the road." Motorists should use the Hwy. 7 and Excelsior Blvd. ramps to get to neighborhood streets.

The new detours and ramp closures are necessary to deter motorists from using local roads to bypass the congestion on the highway between Highway 7 and Minnetonka Boulevard and to bypass the congestion on Wooddale Ave and W Lake Street.

Here is the warning from MnDOT: Drivers who don't try to circumvent that advice will end up on roads that take them under Hwy. 100 and deposit them on the east side. It's not worth the hassle.

In addition to the ramp closure, the revised detour designated for the closure of Minnetonka Boulevard over Highway 100 will be Louisiana Avenue and Excelsior Boulevard..

The County Road E bridge over Snelling is coming down, and Snelling Avenue/Hwy.51 will be closed while demolition crews are at work. Here are the specifics closures to be in place from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday:

I-494 in Plymouth and Maple Grove

The rebuilding of I-494 from the Fish Lake Interchange down to Hwy. 55 continues. Two northbound lanes will be open and one southbound lane open Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. That's when MnDOT will slide the moveable barrier over to create a second southbound lane to accommodate folks returning from out of town. From Sunday afternoon until Monday afternoon, northbound traffic will be restricted to one lane.

Hwy. 5/W. 7th Street

The bridge over the Mississippi River is being redecked, and that has traffic operating on one side the current bridge. With lane closures in place from Ft. Snelling up to near Shepard Road, expect backups along W. 7th Street and onto the Mendota Bridge. We saw that occur during this week's morning and afternoon rush hours. Expect to add extra time if this is your route to the airport.

Also of note: One lane of westbound Hwy. 55 over the Mendota Bridge will be closed for maintenance work from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Fourth Street in downtown Minneapolis

A one block segment of 4th Street is closed between Portland Avenue and Park Avenue. The closure will be in effect until July, according to city officials.

Traffic will be detoured south on Portland Avenue to 6th Street, east on 6th to Park Avenue then north on Park back to 4th Street. The bike lane also will be closed.

For commuters looking to access I-35W, rather than taking the six-block detour, it might be easier to just scoot over to Washington Avenue or use 4th Avenue S. For drivers looking to get on westbound I-94, it might be just as easy to hit 3rd Street and leave on the west end of downtown.

Motorists using I-35W will find the freeway reduced to two lanes from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Crews will be working in the center median between Washington Avenue and Johnson Street.

Hwy. 52 south of the metro