Weekend traffic: Southbound 35W closed; work along Blue Line

Work abounds on the roads and the rails in the metro area this weekend as MnDOT will close the southbound lanes of Interstate 35W through south Minneapolis and Metro Transit has a big project along the Blue Line.

Expect extra traffic in St. Paul: The Irish Fair of Minnesota will draw crowds to Harriet Island in downtown St. Paul, and extra traffic to Robert and Wabasha Streets as well as Interstate 94 and Hwy. 52. Rod Stewart and Santana rock out at the Xcel Energy Center Sunday night.

Southbound I-35W will be closed between Hwy. 55/Hiawatha Avenue to 46th Street from 5 a.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday. Northbound lanes will remain open. The closure is needed to survey I-35W for a 2017 road project, plus bridge inspection and other maintenance.

Buses will take the place of Blue Line trains as Metro Transit does platform construction and track maintenance in the following areas:

• From 12:01 a.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday, between the Franklin Avenue Station and Terminal 2-Humphrey. Trains will run between Target Field and Franklin, and between the Humphrey stop at the MSP Airport and the Mall of America. Passengers going from the airport to downtown Minneapolis will take a Blue Line train to Humphrey-Terminal 2, and catch a bus from there.

• From 3 a.m. Sunday to 3 a.m. Monday, trains will run from downtown Minneapolis to the 46th Street Station and from the airport stations to the Mall of America. Buses will fill in between 46th Street and Terminal 2.

• 94th Street Bridge over I-35W in Bloomington: Bridge is closed through mid-October. Ramps to southbound 35W are open but northbound ramps are closed.

• Northbound Hwy. 65 in Fridley, Spring Lake Park: Highway is closed between Medtronic Parkway/Old Central Avenue and County Road 10.

• Brooklyn Boulevard Bridge over Hwy. 100: Bridge is closed to motorists and pedestrians through mid-October.

• Hwy. 61 in White Bear Lake: Reduced to a single lane. Multiple streets are closed where they intersect with Hwy. 61.

• Hwy. 101 and County Road 144 in Rogers: County Road 144 is closed between James Road and the Hwy. 101 construction. Multiple lane closures.

• I-35E in St. Paul: Ramp to northbound I-35E from westbound I-94 is closed for a few more weeks. A number of ramps between Little Canada Road and Maryland Avenue remain closed.

• Eastbound I-494 Wakota Bridge: This should be the last weekend for lane closures on eastbound I-494 on the Wakota Bridge between Hardman Avenue in South St. Paul and Maxwell Avenue in Newport.

• 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.

• I-494 in Plymouth: Lane closings overnight and throughout the weekend as MnDOT prepares for a freeway expansion project between Hwy. 55 and Bass Lake Road.

• Hwy. 96 at Centerville Road: Construction at the junction of White Bear Lake, White Bear Township and Vadnais Heights will run until 5 a.m. on Monday.

• Minneapolis parkways: Lake Calhoun Parkway on all sides of the lake will be closed from 7 a.m. to 11 a.m. Saturday for the Greg Marzolf Jr. 5K Run. At Lake Harriet, the Emotions in Motion Run/Walk for Mental Health takes over Lake Harriet Pkwy. from 8 a.m. to noon.