Penn Avenue between 54th and 60th Streets in south Minneapolis will be closed starting Wednesday to allow Minneapolis Parks and Recreation crews to remove dozens of large ash trees to help prevent the spread of emerald ash borer.
The tree removal comes ahead of a summer reconstruction project to rebuild the avenue from the Crosstown highway up to 54th Street. Parking will be banned on Penn at certain times Wednesday through Friday.
During the closure, Metro Transit Route 4 buses will travel on Xerxes Avenue between the Crosstown and 50th Street in both directions. Route 4D trips will be eliminated and will be replaced with Route 4K buses. The change will be in effect Wednesday until the end of the construction on Penn Avenue.
Route 156 buses will follow their normal route except for a short detour onto 54th Street during construction
All cross streets will remain open except when work in the intersections require closures, city offcials said. All businesses on Penn will remain open, too.
At the outset, the reconstruction project will affect Penn from south of 54th Street to 60th Street. Later this summer the work zone will be expanded to just north of 54th Street and south to the Crosstown highway.
The official detour will direct motorists to use Xerxes Avenue.
The project will include removal and replacement of the pavement, curb and gutter, driveway aprons, storm drain inlets and signal upgrades.
