Metro area roads are awash with closures and detour signs, and this weekend construction spreads to the rails. Portions of both the Green Line and Blue Line will be shut down, as will Interstate 35W between downtown Minneapolis and the Crosstown.
Buses will fill in for Blue Line trains between Target Field and Franklin Avenue and on the Green Line from Target Field to Raymond Avenue from 6:15 p.m. Friday until 3:30 a.m. Monday. Crews will be improving lighting and repainting the Washington Avenue bridge.
A new wrinkle for downtown Minneapolis drivers will appear on Sunday. Crews will be reconfiguring westbound Interstate 94, which will drop from three lanes to two in the vicinity of the mammoth I-35W reconstruction project.
"The lane reduction could cause delays that people will want to leave plenty of extra time to navigate through or consider an alternate route," said MnDOT spokesman David Aeikens.
Drivers heading to Duluth for Grandmas Marathon may not make good time. Along with heavy traffic, a bridge project between Rush City and Pine City has the potential to slow trips down. Locally, Northern Spark and the and Stone Arch Bridge art festivals will draw crowds. The Lynx are home at Target Center Saturday night.
Here is your road construction map and roundup:
Minneapolis
1. Interstate 35W: Northbound closed until 5 a.m. Monday from Crosstown Hwy. 62 to Interstate 94. Southbound I-35W will be open to traffic south of 46th Street only. Ramp from southbound I-35W to 35th Street and the 24th Street pedestrian bridge closed.
2. Interstate 94: Westbound reduced to two lanes from Chicago Avenue to Nicollet Avenue starting Sunday.
