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Traffic disruptions this weekend – and beyond

Northbound I-35W ramps into downtown Minneapolis will close for four months – then reopen as only a single lane for three and a half years. And it gets worse...

MINNEAPOLIS - At least someone will be into MnDOT’s ambitious summer construction plans.

In the arms of his father, 3-year-old Nathanael Davey watched in awe Monday night as workers poured concrete on the Franklin Avenue Bridge over I-35W.

In Nathanael’s hands: a toy bulldozer.

“He likes it,” said Mike Davey, Nathanael’s father. “It’s fun coming over here after work.”

For Nathanael, there’s a lot more to come.

This weekend the painting of the Whitney pedestrian bridge near the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden will force the closure of I-94 in both directions.

The project will take three weekends, meaning I-94 at downtown will be also be closed three weekends in a row.

Then, in June, already crowded I-35W, south of downtown Minneapolis, will go from 10 lanes to five - and stay that way for four months.

It gets worse. Northbound I-35W ramps into downtown Minneapolis will close for four months – then reopen as only a single lane for the next three and a half years.

Also in June, the northbound I-35W ramp to westbound I-94 will close for three and a half years.

Same for the eastbound I-94 ramp to southbound I-35W. It, too, will be closed for three and a half years.

“This is the quickest, least expensive way,” said MnDOT's Dave Aeikens, when asked about the lengthy closures. Aeikens says it’s the most extensive rebuild of that section of I-35W since the freeway was built 60 years ago.

Metro Transit and Southwest Transit plan additional bus service to help relieve traffic congestion. Special downtown parking rates are also being offered in select ramps for people who carpool.

“Folks just need to plan ahead, do a lot of preparation. Test some routes, test some options,” Aeikens said.

All of which means, a great summer for Nathanael, if not his dad.

“I'm the one driving him to daycare in the morning, he gets to look at it from the backseat,” Mike Davey said.

More information on the I-35W and 94 closures can be found here, on the MnDOT site. More information is also available on the Whitney Pedestrian Bridge project.

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