Photo: City of Edina
By most accounts, traffic flowed reasonably well in the southwest metro on Monday morning, the first day of the dreaded Nine Mile Creek bridge closure that will impact more than 90,000 drivers daily.
No major traffic snarls developed on I-494, I-394 or Hwy. 100, the alternate routes MnDOT is directing motorists to use to get around the closure of the bridge on Hwy. 169 between Bren Road and Lincoln Drive on the Minnetonka-Edina border.
We still have the afternoon drive home to see how the bridge closure will affect how traffic disburses. And there is one additional wrinkle that might catch some motorists off guard. The ramp from westbound I-394 to southbound Hwy. 169 also closed Monday. So drivers who need to get to places such as Minnetonka, Eden Prairie and south of the Minnesota River will need to exit at Hwy. 100 or go all the way out to I-494.
MnDOT's David Aeikens also notes that folks can also go north on Hwy. 169 to Hwy. 55, then turn around and go back south on Hwy. 169 if absolutely necessary to access exits at Cedar Lake Road, Minnetonka Boulevard, Hwy. 7 and Excelsior Boulevard.
For day one, however, "it all looked good on the freeway system," said MnDOT's Brian Kary. "We have not heard too much from motorists."
He said people likely gave themselves extra time, which may have helped things out.
A spokeswoman for the city of St. Louis Park said traffic moved normally along city and county streets Monday morning. The Drive was checking with Edina and Minnetonka to see if any traffic issues developed on local roads in those communities.
