Part of Hwy. 55 will close for 10 days starting Wednesday near Douglas Drive in Golden Valley, as workers tunnel under the highway to build an underpass for pedestrians.

The tunnel is meant to make the highway crossing safer for students at the Perpich Center for Arts Education. Those who ride city buses from Minneapolis have had to cross six lanes of highway to get to school. There are crosswalks and stoplights, but school leaders say too often, students have crossed against the light to get to class on time.

The underpass will also connect neighborhoods south of the highway to sections of the Luce Line Trail, and to Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis.

Nearby Douglas Drive will be closed north of Hwy. 55 for two months as workers reconfigure the intersection to include a roundabout at the T-shaped intersection where Douglas Drive feeds into the highway.

The closures begin at 6 a.m. on Oct. 4.