Drivers in the west metro will have to get used to a whole new routine as the Hwy. 7 bridge over Hwy. 100 closes Saturday and won't reopen until next fall. That's a long time compared to the 55-hour closure of the southbound lanes of Hwy. 100 through Edina from Friday night to Monday morning.
Elsewhere, drivers will find a major impediment in downtown St. Paul as a portion of I-94 closes Friday night through Sunday. Traveling by train will not be as smooth as usual. Maintenance work on the Blue Line in the Terminal 1 tunnel at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport means trains will run at 15-minute intervals (normally every 10 minutes) Saturday and Sunday all along the 11-stop line between Minneapolis and the Mall of America in Bloomington. Buses will replace Green Line trains from 8 p.m. Friday until 3:30 a.m. Monday between Capitol/Rice Street and Union Depot stations in St. Paul.
Temperatures of nearly 80 hardly seem like hockey weather. But the Wild has its home opener at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Xcel Energy Center, bringing extra traffic to downtown St. Paul.
Law enforcement reminds motorists to buckle up. A statewide "Click It or Ticket" campaign begins Friday and runs through Oct. 25.
Here is a guide to getting around the metro this weekend.
Another closure of southbound Hwy. 100 between the Crosstown and I-494 is on tap from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. The detour takes drivers along the Crosstown, Hwy. 169 and I-494. Bigger changes are taking place to the north. On Thursday, the new Minnetonka Blvd. bridge at Hwy. 100 opened as did ramps to and from Hwy. 100 at Minnetonka. On Saturday, Hwy. 7 will close from Beltline Avenue to Wooddale Avenue. Motorists will be detoured to Excelsior Blvd. and Louisiana Avenue until fall 2016. The ramp from southbound Hwy. 100 to Hwy. 55 reopens Friday, MnDOT said.
Both directions of I-94 will be closed in downtown St. Paul, further complicating efforts to get to Saturday's Wild game. MnDOT will shut down the eastbound lanes of I-94 between Hwy. 52 and Hwy. 61 and the westbound lanes between Hwy. 61 and I-35E from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.
Motorists will be able to use Mounds Blvd. to reach the eastbound interstate or take westbound I-94 to reach Mounds Blvd., the Department of Transportation said.
In addition, the ramps from 6th Street in Lowertown to eastbound and westbound I-94 will close at 8 p.m. Friday. Crews will be taking down the old northbound Lafayette bridge deck during the closure.
Hockey fans and those heading through the capital city using Hwy. 52 will find the northbound side of the Lafayette Bridge down to one lane. That lane closure will remain in place through Tuesday and led to significant backups during rush hour this week.
With 18,000 fans heading to the X Saturday night, the best advice is to leave early, or slip over to Hwy. 61. Also, the ramp from southbound I-35E to eastbound I-94 and southbound Hwy. 52 is closed.
Hwy. 101 between downtown Shakopee and Flying Cloud Drive/County Road 61 in Chanhassen remains closed until Wednesday. The unwieldy detour takes drivers along Hwy. 169 to Hwy 41 and on County Hwy. 61.
Southbound Snelling Avenue will be closed over I-94 from Friday night until Monday morning.
On Saturday, motorists on southbound Hwy. 169 will find lane closures between County Road 21 and Canterbury Road until 2 p.m. To the south in Jordan, Hwy. 169 between Hwy. 21 and Hwy. 282 is reduced to a single lane with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour through late October.
In Vadnais Heights, the right lane of southbound I-35 between County Road 96 and County Road E will be closed Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
The ramp from westbound I-694 to Century Avenue will be closed all day Saturday. Traffic will be detoured to White Bear Avenue, north to County Road E and back to Century Avenue.
Hwy. 13 is closed between 2nd Street and Lexington Avenue in Mendota and Lilydale. The detour is via Hwy. 110 and I-35E.
Hwy. 10 near Armstrong Boulevard in Ramsey. Armstrong is closed north of Hwy. 10 through October.
The annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk takes over Lake Nokomis Parkway in Minneapolis from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768