In what might be the toughest weekend of the summer for metro-area drivers, the Minnesota Department of Transportation will shut down portions of two freeways, make big changes to the Hwy. 5 project near Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport and shift traffic through a bridge construction zone in Bloomington.
From Friday night to Monday morning, Interstate 94 in downtown Minneapolis will be closed both ways between Interstates 35W and 394. South metro motorists will find eastbound Interstate 494 closed between Hwy. 5 and Interstate 35E through Bloomington and Mendota Heights.
MnDOT on Friday will open the eastbound lanes of Hwy. 5 near the airport and close the westbound lanes between Hwys. 55/62 and I-494 through October.
Drivers on I-35W will no longer have to share the northbound lanes over the Minnesota River in Bloomington and Burnsville. Lane shifts will be in place as the new southbound bridge opens.
Here are other places drivers will find road construction:
Minneapolis
1. I-35W: Ramps from 46th Street to northbound I-35W, and from northbound I-35W to 36th Street, closed until September 2021. Ramps from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94, and from eastbound I-94 to southbound I-35W, closed until fall 2021.
2. Hennepin Avenue: Lane reductions and full closure on some blocks between 12th Street and Washington Avenue.
3. 10th Avenue Bridge: Closed over the Mississippi River through midsummer 2021.
4. 3rd Avenue Bridge: Reduced to one lane in each direction over the Mississippi River.
5. I-94: Closed in both directions from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday between I-394 and I-35W.
St. Paul
6. Ayd Mill Road: Closed between Selby Avenue and I-35E until November.
7. Robert Street bridge: Closed over the Mississippi River until Aug. 22.
North metro
8. I-35/I-35W/I-35E, Forest Lake, Columbus, Hugo: Off-peak lane reductions between Hwy. 8 and one mile south of the I-35W/35E split.
East metro
9. Hwy. 95, Denmark Township: Closed between 70th Street and Hwys. 61 and 10 until Aug. 28.
10. I-494, Mendota Heights and Bloomington: Eastbound closed from 9 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Monday between Hwy. 5 and I-35E.
South metro
11. Hwy. 169, Jackson Township: Reduced to one lane between 133rd St. and Old Brick Yard Road through mid-August.
12. Hwy. 41, Chaska: Closed between Hwy. 169 and 1st Street through Sept. 8.
West metro
13. Hwy. 5, Bloomington: Westbound lanes closed from Hwys. 62 and 55 to I-494 through October.
14. I-494, Bloomington and Richfield: Overnight lane closures between Cedar Avenue and Hwy. 100 through Aug. 31.
15. I-35W, Richfield, Bloomington: Nightly lane closures between 76th and 86th streets until Aug. 31; ramp from southbound I-35W to westbound I-494 closed until Sept. 1.
16. Shoreline Drive and Shadywood Road, Orono: Intersection reconstruction is underway; Narrows Bridge on County Road 19 closed until early September.
17. County Road 81/Bottineau Boulevard, Brooklyn Park: Closed between Brooklyn Boulevard and 83rd Avenue N.
18. I-94, Maple Grove, Rogers: Eastbound lanes separated by a concrete median between Hwy. 101 and the I-94/494/694 split, with two lanes designated for through traffic and one for access to local roads.
