Steer clear: Roads closed ahead

The parties just keep coming in the Twin Cities with the Aquatennial in Minneapolis and Highland Fest in St. Paul this weekend. But between the festivities and road construction, commuters will find plenty of weekend obstacles.

It won't be a lot of fun on Interstate 35W in Bloomington and Hwy. 100 in Brooklyn Center. Portions of both highways will be closed all weekend as the state Department of Transportation tears down one bridge and begins building another.

Continuing construction projects on Hwy. 52 and Hwy. 55 through Inver Grove Heights and Eagan, along with work on Hwy. 169, also will challenge commuters.

For transit users, Metro Transit says several routes that pass through St. Paul's Highland Park area will be detoured due to Highland Fest. Detours will run 8 p.m. Friday through 8 p.m. Sunday. Details are listed on the agency's rider alert page.

No disruptions are anticipated on the Blue, Green or Red light-rail lines.

Watch out for:

MnDOT is taking down the overpass at 94th Street in Bloomington from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday.

• The Aquatennial Beach Bash with the milk-carton boat races and sand-castle competition at Lake Calhoun will close the parkway around the lake to traffic from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday.

• Victory Memorial Drive will be filled with runners competing in the Bolder Dash from 7 a.m. to noon Saturday. Races run from Webber Park to Lowry Avenue.

• Lake Nokomis Parkway is closed from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday for the Bacon Chase 5K Fun Run.

For another three weeks or so, the southbound lanes of Hwy. 65 from County Road 10 to Medtronic Parkway remain closed as highway pavement and improvement projects continue.

Southbound Hwy. 169 between the Crosstown and Valley View Road is closed for at least another week.

The freeway in both directions is down to two lanes between Little Canada Road and Maryland Avenue, with many ramps closed until October.

Eastbound I-494 on the Wakota Bridge between Hardman Avenue in South St. Paul and Maxwell Avenue in Newport will be reduced by two lanes from 7 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. The lane closures will continue for three consecutive weekends.

Watch out for lane closures and traffic backups on Hwy. 55 between the east and west junctions of Hwy. 149. Also, the left lane of Hwy. 149 between I-494 and Hwy. 55 is closed.