Weekend traffic: Bus route changes, State Fair and road construction

If you ride Metro Transit buses, pay attention to new schedule changes that go into effect Saturday on about 40 routes. On Monday, look for the opening of the new Hwy. 610 & Noble Pkwy. Park & Ride off 95th Avenue and Noble Pkwy. in Brooklyn Park and new express service from the lot to downtown Minneapolis.

This weekend, the Twins have games Friday through Sunday against the Tigers at Target Field while the Renaissance Festival continues in Shakopee. The State Fair rolls on. Earlier this week I posted a primer on how to get to the fair by express bus or taking a free shuttle from one of the fair's 33 park and ride lots.

Naturally no summer weekend would be complete without having to dodge orange cones and barricades. Here is your weekend wrap-up:

Transit

Metro Transit is adding extra trips on some routes that serve schools to accommodate demand that will rise when classes begin in public schools and colleges and universities. In all, 40 routes will have service tweaks, with time changes and a few minor route changes that you can see here.

It's nothing like the sweeping changes instituted in June with the Green Line started running, but riders should "take look at online schedules to be sure they are catching the bus where they expect it to be," said transit spokesman Drew Kerr. They really "reflect rider needs."

The biggest changes will be the addition of express routes 768 from the 95th Avenue Park and Ride off Noble Pkwy. and Hwy. 610. Minor adjustments to Route 852 will take it onto the campus of Anoka Ramsey Community College in Coon Rapids, and no Saturday service at the Foley Park & Ride.

And now onto road construction:

Metro area road work

The 94th Street bridge over I-35W in Bloomington is closed through mid-October. Ramps to and from 35W to 94th are closed for the next several weeks.

I-35W and University Avenue/4th Street ramp near the U of M

There is a lot of activity along the northbound lanes of 35W in Minneapolis. The freeway itself is open but a number expect a lane shift as you pass between University Avenue and NE. Johnson Street.

4th Street in downtown Minneapolis

Utility work has this street closed from I-35W to Washington/Cedar Avenue until late September. Drivers can still get onto southbound 35W, but those heading to the University of Minnesota will need to follow this detour: Northbound on Park Avenue, then right on Washington Avenue to Cedar Avenue.

In a reprieve, MnDOT has pushed the closure of the flyover bridge from northbound 35W to 3rd Street and downtown Minneapolis back to Sept. 2.

Hwy. 55 in Eagan

The westbound lanes of Hwy 55 will be closed between Lone Oak Road and the north intersection of Hwy. 149. Detour: Use Lone Oak Road and Lexington Avenue The eastbound lanes will remain open.

Northbound Hwy 65 in Fridley, Spring Lake Park

Northbound Hwy 65 between Medtronic Parkway/Old Central Avenue and County Road 10 is closed and detoured.

The County Road 152/Brooklyn Boulevard Bridge is closed to motorists and pedestrians through mid-October.

Hwy 61 between White Bear Avenue and north of Hwy 96 is reduced to a single lane. There are multipe streets that are closed where they intersect with Hwy 61.

Lane closures; Northbound to eastbound County Road 144 is closed; westbound County Road 144 to northbound Hwy 101 is closed; County Road 144 is closed between James Road and the Hwy 101 construction; Hwy 101 between South Diamond Lake Road and 147th Street is single lane.

Mall of America shoppers and those passing by on Cedar Avenue will need to be on alert for traffic switches, narrow lanes and construction between 66th Street and Old Shakopee Road.

The ramps from eastbound I-494 to northbound Cedar Avenue and the northbound Cedar Avenue to westbound I-494 will be closed through mid-October.

Motorists on eastbound I-494 who need to access northbound Cedar Avenue will be detoured to northbound 34th Street and back west on I-494. Northbound Cedar drivers needing to go west on I-494 should use the west I-494/Hwy. 5 exit one-half mile to the south. Detour signs will be posted, MnDOT says.

The ramp from westbound I-94 to northbound I-35E is also closed for another week. A number of ramps between Little Canada Road and Maryland Avenue remained closed as work on adding a new MnPASS lane and reconstruction of 35E continues. Here is a list:

South of downtown, 35E will be reduced to a single lane between Randolph Avenue and Shepard Road. The closure from 7 a.m. Saturday until 5 p.m. Sunday will affect both directions.

County Road 61/Flying Cloud Drive in Chaska

Look for flaggers and construction in the vicinity of County 61/Flying Cloud Drive and the intersection of Hwy. 101.

In addition, both directions of County Road 61 will close east of Great Plains Blvd. at Bluff Creek. Motorists traveling west on County 61 will not have access to the Hwy. 101 bridge into Shakopee. The bridge itself will be open to traffic between Shakopee and Eden Prairie.

Hwy. 169 in Edina

The northbound lanes are closed from I-494 to Bren Road. Detour: Westbound I-494 to eastbound I-394 or eastbound I-494 to northbound Hwy. 100, then west on I-394

MnDOT is widening bridges between and other work ahead of a freeway expansion project that will bring a third lane in each direction between Hwy. 55 and Bass Lake Road. The northbound lanes at the Canadian Pacific Rail will be reduced to a single lane so crews can widen the bridge. Night and weekend lane shifts on I-494 can be expected through November as crews remove the guardrails to reconstruct the road shoulders.

A reminder that Schmidt Lake Road under 494 is closed. Motorists can bypass the closed segment by using Vicksburg Lane or Northwest Boulevard to County Road 47.

Hwy. 7 in St. Louis Park

Be cautious as you pass through the bridge reconstruction zone at Louisiana Avenue. Traffic has been switched to the new Hwy. 7 bridge, but there is no access to Louisiana Avenue.

Pennsylvania Avenue/Phalen Boulevard

Motorists will be detoured to Jackson Street, University Avenue and Olive Street to bypass the closure. Once the road reopens, Pennsylvania Avenue/Phalen Boulevard will remain a single lane in each direction at I-35E through late 2015 for bridge construction.

Hwy. 36 in east metro

Be ready for intermittent lane closures on Hwy. 36 between I-694 and De Montreville Trail in Lake Elmo through Thursday. Ahead, the highway is a single lane through Oak Park Heights and Stillwater.

Hwy. 55 in west metro