A holiday rarity, Hwy. 100 to close over Labor Day weekend

In a rare move, the Minnesota Department of Transportation will shut down a major metro area highway on a holiday weekend.

Both directions of Hwy. 100 will be closed from Saturday morning to Tuesday morning between Hwy. 7 and the Crosstown Hwy. 62. Crews using cranes will be moving a railroad bridge as part of the $2 billion Southwest light-rail project.

Twin Cities & Western Railroad is not running trains from noon Sunday to early Tuesday, which made it "an ideal time" to move the bridge, said SWLRT spokesman Trevor Roy.

MnDOT typically does not allow full highway closures on holiday weekends, but "to keep this project moving forward, we made the exception," said MnDOT spokesman David Aeikens.

Drivers who normally use Hwy. 100 to detour around the closure of the northbound I-35W to westbound I-94 ramp will be directed to Hwy. 169, Aeikens said.

With this being the last summer hurrah for many, those hitting the roads will find the lowest Labor Day gas prices since 2004, according to the gas price tracking app GasBuddy. On Thursday, Minnesota had some of the lowest gas prices in the nation at $2.12 per gallon, according to AAA.

Law enforcement continues its extra drunken driving enforcement through Monday.

Construction wrapped up this week on the Rice Street bridge over I-694. All lanes on Rice Street and ramps to and from I-694 are now open.

But construction continues in other places:

Minneapolis

1. Interstate 35W: Ramps from 46th Street to northbound I-35W, and from northbound I-35W to 36th Street, closed until September 2021. Ramps from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94, and from eastbound I-94 to southbound I-35W, closed until fall 2021.

2. Hennepin Avenue: Lane reductions and full closure on some blocks between 12th Street and Washington Avenue.

3. 10th Avenue Bridge: Closed over the Mississippi River through midsummer 2021.

4. 3rd Avenue Bridge: Reduced to one lane in each direction over the Mississippi River through Dec. 31.

St. Paul

5. Ayd Mill Road: Closed between Selby Avenue and Interstate 35E until November.

East metro

6. Hwy. 95, Oak Park Heights, Bayport: Lane shifts between King Plant Road and 1st Avenue S.

North metro

7. Interstate 35, Forest Lake: Off-peak lane reductions between Hwys. 8 and 97.

8. County Road 81/Bottineau Boulevard, Brooklyn Park: Closed between Brooklyn Boulevard and 83rd Avenue N.

South metro

9. Hwy. 3, Farmington: Closed at 170th Street through Sept. 18.

10. Hwy. 169, Jackson Township: Reduced to one lane between 133rd Street and Old Brick Yard Road through the fall.

11. Hwy. 41, Chaska: Closed between Hwy. 169 and 1st Street through Tuesday.

West metro

12. Hwy. 100, St. Louis Park, Edina: Closed in both directions from 7 a.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Tuesday between Hwy. 7 and 62.

13. Hwy. 5, Bloomington: Westbound lanes closed between Hwys. 62 and 55 to I-494 through October.

14. I-35W, Richfield, Bloomington: Ramp from southbound I-35W to westbound I-494 closed until Nov. 10.

15. Shoreline Drive and Shadywood Road, Orono: Intersection reconstruction is underway; Narrows Bridge on County Road 19 closed until early September.

16. I-94, Maple Grove, Rogers: Lane shifts and temporary lane closures between Hwy. 101 and the I-94/494/694 split.