Motorists who use I-35E through Maplewood and St. Paul can expect to encounter nightly lane closures starting Monday.

MnDOT will be shutting down lanes for the next several weeks to construct piers for new bridges being built at Wheelock Parkway and Arlington Avenue. On nights when construction is taking place, closures will be in effect from 7 p.m. until 5 a.m. The closures will affect traffic in both directions of 35E between Hwy. 36 in Maplewood and I-94 in downtown St. Paul Mondays through Saturday through late March.

The work is part of the I-35E MnPASS project, which aims to add a HOT lane between Little Canada Road and Maryland Avenue. It also includes long-term pavement improvements and eventually the replacement bridges at Larpenteur and Roselawn Avenues and the 35E bridge over Hwy. 36.

This segment of I-35E also is part of the Better Roads program, which aims to significantly improve state highway pavement condition and shoulder hardening for transit.

The new MnPASS lane is scheduled to open in 2015. You can read more about the MnPASS project by visiting www.mndot.gov/metro/projects/35estpaul/mnpass.html.