Motorists in Champlin can expect major backups this weekend as Hwy. 169 will be reduced to one lane in each direction, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said.
Lane restrictions will go into effect at 9 a.m. Friday and remain in place until 5 a.m. Monday.
Northbound traffic will be shifted to the southbound lanes between E. Hayden Lake Road and Dayton Road/Miller Road, which is just south of the Mississippi River. Southbound traffic will be reduced to one lane from the Mississippi River to East Hayden Lake Road.
Crews will be installing a storm sewer pipe under the northbound lanes and constructing crossovers to handle traffic next summer when MnDOT replaces bridges over Elm Creek, said spokesman Kent Barnard.
The bridge decks were so deteriorated that in 2015 MnDOT banned single-axle trucks weighing more than 16 tons and semi-trailer truck and trailer-truck combinations weighing more than 26 tons from crossing for eight months while the agency did emergency repairs.
Now MnDOT is going back to make a permanent fix by replacing the structures that were originally built in 1956.
In addition to rebuilding the northbound and southbound bridges, MnDOT next spring will extend all turn lanes from northbound Hwy. 169 to westbound streets, add an acceleration lane on southbound Hwy. 169 at 120th Avenue N. and upgrade intersections to comply with the Americans with Disabilities.
MnDOT also will realign Hwy. 169 between the Mississippi River and East Hayden Lake Road during the 2018 construction season.
