Road closures planned for I-35W/Minnehaha Parkway area

by Elizabeth Baier, Minnesota Public Radio

St. Paul, Minn. — Motorists driving along Minnehaha Parkway near Interstate 35W in Minneapolis should expect to encounter detours and road closures starting Monday.

Crews will be demolishing the northbound I-35W bridge spanning Minnehaha Parkway. The work will last through mid-September.

During the closures, at least one pedestrian or bike path along Minnehaha Creek at I-35W will remain open, but the path may be intermittently closed for safety reasons, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Access across I-35W will be available at the 42nd Street bridge, 46th Street bridge, 50th Street bridge, Diamond Lake Road bridge, and the 60th Street underpass.

The bridge demolition will not affect traffic on northbound I-35W, since traffic from 49th Street to the Highway 62 junction has been re-routed to the southbound lanes of I-35W.

Also starting Monday, the northbound lanes of I-35W, between I-494 and Highway 62, and the southbound lanes of I-35W at the western junction of Highway 62, will close nightly from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The closures will continue through Wednesday, August 19.

The nighttime closures are needed for bridge painting at the western junction of I-35W and Highway 62.

Both road closures are part of the Crosstown reconstruction project.