Weekend traffic Oct. 25-27: Bridge repairs bring closure of I-94 in Minneapolis

Bridge repairs will shut down the interstate for 18 hours on Saturday.

By Tim Harlow Star Tribune

October 24, 2019 — 11:48pm

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will shut down both directions of Interstate 94 in Minneapolis for 18 hours over the weekend to repair two bridges that were damaged when they were hit by a truck last summer.

Crews will straighten beams on the 25th Avenue bridge and replace the 22nd Avenue pedestrian bridge near Augsburg University with a temporary wooden-deck structure during the closure planned from 10 p.m. Saturday until 4 p.m. Sunday.

The closure kicks in after Saturday's University of Minnesota football game and should be done before the Timberwolves home opener Sunday. But it will make it tougher for fans heading to the Xcel Energy Center where the Wild are home Saturday night and Sesame Street takes over the arena Sunday afternoon.

It would not be Halloween without the big celebration in downtown Anoka, and parades and a 5K run will bring street closures there Saturday.

Here is where motorists will find ongoing construction projects, weather permitting:

Minneapolis

1. I-35W: Ramps from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94 and eastbound I-94 to southbound I-35W closed until 2021. Lane reductions in both directions from 43rd Street to I-94.

2. Hennepin Avenue and 8th Street: Hennepin Avenue is a single lane in each direction between 7th and 12th streets; 8th Street is closed from LaSalle Avenue to S. 2nd Avenue and Portland to Park avenues.

3. I-94: Closed in both directions from 10 p.m. Saturday to 4 p.m. Sunday between I-35W and Hwy. 280.

St. Paul

4. White Bear Avenue: Lane closures between Upper Afton Road and I-94 through early November.

East metro

5. Hwy. 120/Century Avenue in Maplewood: Closed between 27th and 34th streets until Nov. 1.

North metro

6. I-35W from Roseville to Lino Lakes: Lane reductions in both directions between Hwy. 36 in Roseville and Sunset Avenue in Lino Lakes.

7. I-35W, 35E and 35 in Columbus and Forest Lake: Lane closures in both directions on I-35 between the split and Hwy. 8. Southbound I-35 reduced to two lanes from Hwy. 97 to the I-35W/35E split, and I-35W and I-35E each reduced to a single lane south of the split. Northbound I-35W reduced to a single lane approaching the I-35W/I-35E split.

8. Bottineau Boulevard/County Road 81 in Brooklyn Park: Closed between N. 71st Avenue and Brooklyn Boulevard.

9. I-94 in Rogers and Maple Grove: Westbound reduced to one lane at various times between I-494 and Hwy. 241 from 7 p.m. Friday to noon Saturday and resuming at 7 p.m. Sunday.

South metro

10. Hwy. 149/Dodd Road in Mendota Heights and Lilydale: Closed between Round Hill Road and Bachelor Avenue until Nov. 1.

11. I-35W in Bloomington: Ramp from southbound I-35W to westbound I-494 closed until Nov. 7. Lane restrictions in both directions between 106th Street and Cliff Road.

12. Hwy. 3 in Inver Grove Heights: Closed between 60th Street and County Road 26 until Nov. 1.

13. Hwy. 13 in Prior Lake: Closed between Panama Avenue and Franklin Trail until Nov. 1.