Weekend traffic: Few road closures; zombie crawl in Minneapolis

Look out for the mass of supernatural creatures roaming around downtown Minneapolis on Saturday night as the Zombie Pub Crawl may be the scariest thing drivers will have to steer around this weekend.

Many construction projects have wrapped up for the season, but motorists could encounter delays in long-running work zones that include I-35W in Minneapolis and Bloomington and I-35 in the Forest Lake area. An overnight closure of I-35W between downtown Minneapolis and the Crosstown was called off due to bad weather, MnDOT said.

In Minneapolis, the area between Hennepin and 2nd Avenues N. and between N. 3rd and 6th streets in the Warehouse District will be closed off to traffic Saturday for the pub crawl. Metro Transit buses on affected streets will be on detour from 8 a.m. Saturday to 8 a.m. Sunday.

The Gophers' Saturday night football game with Nebraska could draw large crowds and traffic to TCF Bank Stadium. The Wild plays Saturday night at Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul and the Timberwolves have a preseason game Sunday at Target Center in Minneapolis.

Here is a rundown of some ongoing construction projects:

1. I-35W: Both directions closed from 10 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday between I-94 and Hwy. 62. Lane reductions in both directions from 43rd Street to I-94. Ramps closed from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94 and eastbound I-94 to southbound I-35W.

2. Hennepin Avenue and 8th Street: Hennepin Avenue is a single lane in each direction between 7th and 12th streets; 8th Street is closed from LaSalle Avenue to S. 2nd Avenue and Portland to Park avenues.

3. Hwy. 120/Century Avenue in Maplewood: Closed between 27th and 34th streets until Nov. 1.

4. I-35W from Roseville to Lino Lakes: Lane reductions in both directions between Hwy. 36 in Roseville and Sunset Avenue in Lino Lakes.

5. Interstates 35W, 35E and 35 in Columbus and Forest Lake: Lane closures in both directions on I-35 between the split and Hwy. 8. Southbound I-35 reduced to two lanes from Hwy. 97 to the I-35W/35E split, and I-35W and I-35E reduced to a single lane south of the split. Northbound I-35W reduced to a single lane approaching the I-35W/I-35E split.

6. Bottineau Boulevard/County Road 81 in Brooklyn Park: Closed between N. 71st Avenue and Brooklyn Boulevard.

7. I-94 in Rogers and Maple Grove: Westbound reduced to one lane between I-494 and Hwy. 241 from 7 p.m. Friday to noon Saturday and resuming at 7 p.m. Sunday.

8. Hwy. 149/Dodd Road in Mendota Heights and Lilydale: Closed between Round Hill Road and Bachelor Avenue until Nov. 1.

9. I-35W in Bloomington: Lane restrictions in both directions between 106th Street and Cliff Road.

10. Hwy. 3 in Inver Grove Heights: Closed between 60th Street and County Road 26 until Nov. 1.

11. Hwy. 13 in Prior Lake: Closed between Panama Avenue and Franklin Trail until Nov. 1.

12. Flying Cloud Drive in Eden Prairie: Closed between Hwy. 101 and Spring Road.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768