Crews repairing the County Road 42 bridge over I-35W in Burnsville are about a week ahead of schedule and by Wednesday they will wrap up work that has had the westbound lanes closed since mid-April.

As the westbound lanes open to traffic, the eastbound lanes over I-35W will close for the next five weeks, according to the Dakota County Transportation Department.

Drivers should use County Road 11, McAndrews Road and County Road 5 to access as detour routes.

County Road 42 is a principal arterial roadway with an annual daily traffic volume of more than 50,000 vehicles a day. A large amount of this traffic uses the I-35W east ramp to travel north from the Burnsville Regional Shopping Center area. This area experiences a number of traffic backups at the County Road 42 and I-35W west ramp/Buck Hill Road intersection.

This summer's construction includes replacing bridge joints, repairing sidewalks, extending the eastbound County Road 42 turn lane west of Buck Hill Road and reconstructing the signal at Buck Hill Road/southbound I-35W ramp.