Evening commuters who use westbound Interstate Hwy. 694 in the northern suburbs shouldn't run into massive backups that frustrated morning commuters who were caught in a 5-mile backup from Brooklyn Center to New Brighton.
MnDOT crews reduced the freeway to a single lane at Dupont Avenue about 6:15 a.m. to install a new overhead sign as part of a metro-wide project. Nearly instant gridlock resulted as motorists tried to make their way across the only Mississippi River crossing for miles. Delays at times reached 30 minutes, and traffic was snarled as far east as Victoria Street.
The lane closure persisted into the early afternoon hours but was scheduled to wrap up by 2:30 p.m., before the evening rush hour.
In many cases, MnDOT does such projects during nonpeak hours to minimize traffic disruptions, said spokesman Nick Carpenter. But in this case, crews needed to pour concrete and give it maximum cure time.
The state manual that dictates when lanes can be closed allowed for lane closures on the westbound side of I-694 because the peak travel flow during the morning commute in that area is on the eastbound side, Carpenter said.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
