I-94 and 394 closures plus half marathons to bring traffic challenges

Thousands of metro motorists will have to find alternate routes this weekend when portions of two freeways are shut down and various festivities bring traffic jams.

A crush of traffic is expected in downtown Minneapolis where the first-place Lynx play Friday at Target Center and the Twins play Friday through Sunday at Target Field.

Fans heading east from the games or the Minnesota Fringe Festival will find barricades up on eastbound I-94 between Hwy. 280 and I-35E starting at 10 p.m. Friday.

For motorists heading west on I-94, the left lane between Lexington and Cretin avenues in St. Paul will be closed from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday to allow crews to pour the south side of the new Snelling Avenue bridge deck.

Drivers passing through Richfield could find delays Saturday morning due to the Urban Wildland 5K and Half Marathon benefiting the Wood Lake Nature Center.

Roads will remain open for motorists, but police will be directing traffic to keep runners safe.

Part of Shepard Road in St. Paul will be closed Saturday morning for the Minnesota Half Marathon.

Here are other places drivers will find road challenges:

• I-394: Tuesday's flash flood may have been a preview of what's to come when the lanes between Hwy. 100 and I-94 shut down for two weeks at 10 p.m. Friday. When water flowed over the freeway at Penn Avenue, traffic stacked up as far back as Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka and that could happen Monday morning, MnDOT warns. All eastbound traffic will share the two carpool lanes, meaning 7,000 vehicles — buses, cars, motorcycles and trucks.

• I-35E: Southbound I-35E between County Road E and Hwy. 96 will be reduced to one lane from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. daily through Monday. Northbound I-35E will be reduced there to one lane from 8 p.m. to noon daily through Monday.

• Hwy. 100: The highway is reduced to two lanes in each direction between Cedar Lake Road and Excelsior Boulevard and from the Crosstown to south of W. 70th Street. The ramp from northbound Hwy. 100 to eastbound I-394 closes at 10 p.m. Friday for two weeks.

• Hwy. 5 in St. Paul: Both directions over the Mississippi River bridge are single lane through late September.

• Hwy. 13 in Mendota: Both directions of the highways are closed between 2nd Street and Lexington Avenue until Aug. 22.

• Hwy. 169 in Jordan: The highway between Hwy. 21 and Hwy. 282 is reduced to a single lane in each direction with a speed limit of 45 miles per hour through late October.

• I-94 in St. Michael: The speed limit has been reduced to 60 mph in the work zone. Drivers on Hwy. 241 will find a temporary ramp to eastbound I-94. MnDOT says drivers should expect delays.

• County Road 101: Bushaway Road is closed to through traffic between Hwy. 12 and Minnetonka Boulevard.

For more traffic news, see the Drive blog at www.startribune.com/local/traffic