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Light rail out of service until Monday in downtown Minneapolis

Repairs and maintenance will take portions of both Blue and Green light-rail trains off line from Friday night until Monday morning.

By Tim Harlow

April 7, 2017 at 6:55PM

Repairs and maintenance will take portions of both Blue and Green light-rail trains off line from Friday night until Monday morning. (Brian Stensaas — STAR TRIBUNE FILE/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

(The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Star Tribune photo: Aaron Lavinsky

It will hardly be Carmageddon on Twin Cities freeways this weekend, but it won't be smooth sailing either as major road work continues on I-94 through Brooklyn Center and Minneapolis. And crews will be back on the job in the east metro where several long-term ramp closures along I-94 begin Friday night.

Drivers also will find I-94 in both directions slimmed down to a single lane for part of the weekend between Kellogg Boulevard and the I-694/494 interchange.

Repairs and maintenance will take portions of both Blue and Green light-rail trains off line from Friday night until Monday morning, making it more inconvenient for transit riders. Buses will substitute for trains, so allow extra time to get around.

Arena events include concerts featuring Keith Sweat Friday and Casting Crowns Saturday at Target Center, and Chris Brown at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul Sunday.

Here is the scoop on this weekend's road and rail projects:

Light rail

From 6:45 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday, Green Line trains will not run between Stadium Village Station on the U of M campus and Target Field in downtown Minneapolis. Blue Line trains will not run between Franklin Avenue and Target Field. Here's where you can catch replacement buses.

I-94 in the east metro

(Harlow, Tim/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Eastbound I-94 between Kellogg Boulevard and the I-694/I-494 interchange will be a single lane from 8 p.m. on Friday to 5 p.m. on Saturday. Westbound will be down to one lane from 6 a.m. Saturday to 5 p.m.Sunday.

Starting at 8 p.m. Friday, the ramp from northbound Hwy. 61 to eastbound I-94 will close until fall.

These ramps will close through May:

• White Bear Avenue to westbound I-94
• Burns Avenue to eastbound I-94 (McKnight Road ramp)
• Hudson Road to westbound I-94
• Westbound I-94 to Hudson Road
• Southbound Etna Street to eastbound I-94
• McKnight Road to westbound I-94

I-94 in the north metro

(Harlow, Tim/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The freeway is reduced to two lanes in both directions from 7th Street to 53rd Avenue, so plan on congestion especially where construction begins on either end and the number lanes drop.

Two ramps also are closed: 49th Avenue N. to eastbound I-94 and the Hennepin/Lyndale ramp to eastbound I-94.

Other significant road work

Snelling Avenue is a single lane in each direction from Como Avenue to Larpenteur Avenue until late summer.

The ramp from westbound Hwy. 10 to northbound I-35W is closed until August.

Hwy. 169 is closed in both directions from Bren Road to Lincoln Drive in Edina until October. Also closed is the ramp from westbound I-394 to southbound Hwy. 169.

East River Parkway and West River Parkway north of 38th Street will be closed Sunday morning for the annual Goldy's Run. University Avenue and other roads on the U of M campus near TCF Bank Stadium also will be closed for the race from 7:30 a.m. until noon.

Westbound Washington Avenue in downtown Minneapolis is closed between 5th Avenue S. and Hennepin Avenue.

about the writer

Tim Harlow

Reporter

Tim Harlow covers traffic and transportation issues in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, and likes to get out of the office, even during rush hour. He also covers the suburbs in northern Hennepin and all of Anoka counties, plus breaking news and weather.