All lanes of Interstate 35W through Richfield and Bloomington will remain open this weekend, and motorists can thank the prospect of rainy weather for prompting MnDOT to call off a scheduled closure.
The National Weather Service is predicting a chance of rain and thunderstorms Saturday afternoon and most of Sunday. With the threat of inclement weather, MnDOT has postponed plans to close southbound lanes between Crosstown Hwy. 62 and 106th Street and northbound lanes between I-494 to Hwy. 62.
Northbound I-35W was also going to be closed from 1 to 5 a.m. Saturday and Sunday between 106th Street and I-494.
Instead, the closures will happen next weekend, running from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Aug. 14.
The closures on I-35W are part of a $16 million project that includes resurfacing the pavement, adding a lane in both directions between 98th and 106th streets and improving ramps, signals and sidewalks at 90th, 94th, 98th and 106th streets.
The ramp from southbound I-35W to westbound I-494 will remain closed at least until November, MnDOT said.
