Star Tribune photo: ANTHONY SOUFFLE
Here's a promise from the Minnesota Department of Transportation: This weekend's closure of Interstate 35W between the Crosstown and Interstate 94 from Friday night to Monday morning will be the last one in 2018.
Drivers can plan on more weekend closures starting next spring as the $239 million I-35W Downtown to Crosstown continues until 2021. In a shred of good news, MnDOT will reopen ramp access from northbound I-35W to 5th Avenue on Monday.
Last weekend's demolition of the Hwy. 97 bridge over Interstate 35 in Forest Lake was scrubbed due to poor weather. It's on this weekend, so drivers can expect delays as the freeway will be reduced to one lane in each direction at Hwy. 97 and drivers will be diverted up and down the on and off ramps.
It's a busy weekend at the University of Minnesota where Gopher football and hockey teams play Saturday. Other traffic-generating events include a Wild hockey game Saturday night at the Xcel Energy Center, Timberwolves games Friday night and Sunday afternoon at Target Center in Minneapolis and the Midwest Mountaineering's Outdoor Adventure Expo in Minneapolis' Cedar-Riverside area.
Here is where you may run into construction-related delays.
Minneapolis
1. Interstate 35W: Northbound closed between Crosstown Hwy. 62 and I-94 and southbound closed from I-94 to Diamond Lake Road from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. Detour is via I-394, Hwy. 100 and Crosstown west of I-35W. The ramp from northbound I-35W to 5th Avenue reopens Monday.
2. Hennepin Avenue S.: Closed from Lake to 36th streets.
St. Paul
3. Hwy. 149/Smith Avenue: The High Bridge over the Mississippi River is closed until December. Closed to thru traffic between Delaware and Wentworth avenues in West St. Paul.
4. Interstate 94: Right lane closed on eastbound I-94 from Johnson Parkway and southbound Hwy. 61; ramp from eastbound I-94 to southbound Hwy. 61 closed from 7 a.m. Saturday until 5 a.m. Sunday.
North metro
5. Interstate 35 in Forest Lake: The Hwy. 97 bridge over I-35W will be closed and torn down. During its closure, I-35 traffic will be reduced to a single lane near Hwy. 97 and traffic will be routed up and down the off and on ramps from 7 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.
6. Interstate 35W in Blaine: Off-peak and night time closures in both directions between Hwy. 10 in Mounds View and Lexington Avenue in Lino Lakes.
7. Interstate 35W in northeast Minneapolis and Roseville: Off-peak lane restrictions between University Avenue and County Road C.
South metro
8. . Hwy. 3 in Inver Grove Heights: Closed between Hwys. 149 and 55.
9. Interstate 35W in Bloomington: Reduced to three and occasionally two lanes in each directions between 106th Street and Cliff Road. After 10 p.m., the freeway may be reduced to a single lane in each direction until 5 a.m. the following day. The ramp from 106th Street to southbound I-35W is closed until 2021.
10. Interstate 494 in Newport: Lane reductions between Blaine and Hardman avenues from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.
West metro
11. Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie: Closed from Hwy. 101 to Spring Road.
