It's finally done. The state's four-year, $239 million reconstruction of Interstate 35W in south Minneapolis was pronounced finished Friday by Minnesota Transportation Commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher.
Speaking at a press gathering within earshot of the fully opened freeway, Kelliher was joined by numerous politicians, including Gov. Tim Walz, who joked that he was happy to see the project completed within his lifetime.
"I never thought this day would happen," said Metropolitan Council Member Robert Lilligren, who said he lived adjacent to I-35W for 36 years and saw firsthand the freeway's deterioration.
Starting in August 2017, the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) project moved forward in five stages as it closed bridges, shut down portions of the freeway for months at a time, shifted traffic patterns and disrupted life at what's known as the state's busiest intersection, where I-35W and Interstate 94 meet.
The completed work includes 2.5 miles of rebuilt freeway from I-94 to E. 43rd Street; repairs of multiple bridges; the replacement of aging bridges at E. 24th, 26th, 38th, and 40th streets and Franklin Avenue; new connections between I-35W and Lake Street; a new "flyover" bridge for drivers traveling from I-35W north to westbound I-94, and a host of improvements for walking, biking and transit.
The work was overseen by Ames Construction of Burnsville, with Lunda Construction Co. and Shafer Contracting Co. rounding out the work crews.
A two-story Metro Transit station at Lake Street and I-35W will open by Dec. 4, when the new Orange Line connecting Burnsville to downtown Minneapolis launches.
The station will help people get to their buses more easily, said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who recounted his mother-in-law's experience using a dilapidated stairway to reach her bus stop. Now that the stairs have been redone and walkways, bike paths and ramps have made new connections possible, he said, all forms of transit will improve.
"This is more than moving a whole bunch of cars from point A to point B," Frey said.
The massive I-35W upgrade was discussed for years before the work began, both to replace components of a freeway first installed in the mid-1960s and to make the system more efficient to handle more traffic in years to come.
State transportation officials project a big increase in I-35W traffic, up to 257,700 vehicles a day by 2038 — about a 30% increase over daily use in 2013.
Nearby residents are excited not only that construction is over but about the prospect that new connections to Lake Street will help revitalize a long neglected area, said Sarah Linnes-Robinson of the Kingfield Neighborhood Association.
"It has been a LONG four years often with multiple ramps closed at the same time," Linnes-Robinson said in a statement. "However, this also needs to be just the start of the investment. ... There are community concerns that once this is seen again as a desirable area, the smaller cultural businesses and residents will be pushed out."
The project is 99.5% done with a "punch list" of minor projects still left, said MnDOT project manager Steve Barrett.
He expects that work, including grinding some portions of rough pavement, touching up paint on soundwalls and fixing cracks, to be done by Thanksgiving.
Matt McKinney • 612-673-7329
