Weekend traffic: I-35W flyover bridge is coming down; three-year closure in store

Those attending Friday's mega Christian music concert at U.S. Bank Stadium might be shouting "Hallelujahs," but this weekend drivers likely won't be.

In addition to the third straight weekend closure of Interstate 94 in downtown Minneapolis, MnDOT will demolish the flyover bridge from northbound Interstate 35W to westbound Interstate 94.

While it's taken down, access to the "Downtown Exits" of 5th Avenue and Grant Street will be closed. Outbound exits from downtown to southbound I-35W at 12th Street and 4th Avenue also will be closed . Once the bridge is gone, it will take three years to rebuild, so motorists will have to adapt just like last summer when the same ramp was closed for 70 days while MnDOT redid the Lowry Hill tunnel.

Expect extra traffic around Target Field where the Twins host the rival Milwaukee Brewers Friday through Sunday and the Target Center where the Lynx open the season Sunday at 4 p.m. Same will be true in northeast Minneapolis, home of the annual Art-A-Whirl open studio tour.

Minneapolis

1. Interstate 94: Closed from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday between Hwy. 55 and I-35W. Hennepin/Lyndale Avenue will also close from Dunwoody Boulevard to Oak Street. Nearby, Westbound I-94 ramp to 11th Street also closed. Ramps from eastbound I-394 to westbound I-94, and the ramp from northbound Lyndale Avenue to westbound I-94 closed.

2. Downtown exits on and off I-35W: Northbound ramp to westbound I-94 closed 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday. Exits to southbound I-35 at 12th Street and 4th Avenue S. also closed..

4. Penn Avenue N.: Three closures related to construction of the C-Line bus rapid transit line are in place: 26th to Lowry avenues, 17th to 21st avenues and 12th to 14th avenues.

5. University Avenue: Closed between Lowry Avenue NE. and 44th Avenue NE. in Columbia Heights.

6. Crosstown Hwy. 62: Westbound reduced to a single lane at 34th Avenue.

St. Paul

7. Wabasha Street: Closed from Plato Boulevard to Cesar Chavez Street due to a rock slide.

9. Hwy. 149/Smith Avenue: The High Bridge over the Mississippi River is closed until December.

North Metro

10. Interstate 35 in Forest Lake: Northbound reduced to two lanes from Hwy. 97 to Hwy. 8.

11. Hwy. 10 in Elk River: Eastbound reduced to one lane and westbound to two lanes and sometimes one for between Joplin Street and Upland Avenue. Periodic lane closures in both directions from Hwy. 101 to Thurston Avenue.

12. Hwy. 169 in Champlin: Single lane traffic in both directions between Hwy. 610 and East Hayden Lake Road.

13. Hwy. 50 in Farmington: Single lane between Hwys. 3 and 52. Flagging operations will occur between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. daily through late August.

14. 66th Street in Richfield: Closed to through traffic between Girard and Xerxes avenues S. The project extends from Xerxes Avenue on the west end to 16th Avenue South on the east end.

15. Hwy. 3 in Inver Grove Heights: Closed in both directions between Rich Valley Boulevard and Hwy. 55.

West Metro