Metro Transit enacts a host of route and schedule changes, including the elimination of several trips with low ridership, on Saturday, the same day the agency opens the new C Line rapid bus route between Minneapolis and the Brooklyn Center Transit Center.
Buses will fill in for Blue Line light-rail trains between the 28th Avenue and Mall of America stations as a maintenance project continues.
Motorists will face disruptions in the form of weekend closures on westbound Interstate 94 in St. Paul from Interstate 35E to Hwy. 280 as MnDOT resurfaces the freeway. Eastbound Hwy. 36 through North St. Paul and Hwy. 55 between Maple Lake and Annandale will also be shut down, plus there's a spate of other construction projects across the metro area.
Traffic-generating events include the Summer Beer Festival on Saturday at the State Fairgrounds, a Luis Miguel concert Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul and a Lynx game Saturday afternoon at Target Center.
Here is where drivers will find lane and road closures:
Minneapolis
1. Interstate 35W: Reduced to two southbound lanes from downtown to 43rd Street and two northbound lanes plus a MnPass lane up to 31st Street, then a third general traffic lane to 3rd Street. All southbound lanes and one northbound lane between I-94 and Hwy. 62 closed from 10 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. Monday.
2. I-94: Westbound closed from I-35W to I-394 from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. Eastbound lane closures near the Portland Tunnel from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday.
3. Hennepin Avenue and 8th Street: Hennepin is a single lane in each direction from 7th to 12th streets; 8th Street closed from Hennepin Avenue to 2nd Avenue S.
