Interstate 35W in south Minneapolis to close one last weekend

The Minnesota Department of Transportation will close Interstate 35W through south Minneapolis this weekend, the last such closure expected for the long-running Crosstown to Downtown construction project.

When the freeway opens Monday morning, "It will look like we are finished," said spokesman David Aeikens.

Travel won't be allowed in either direction on I-35W between Interstate 94 and Crosstown Hwy. 62 from 10 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday. The ramp from 4th Avenue S. and 10th Street also will be closed Friday to Monday.

During the closure, crews will remove barriers separating traffic lanes and put down new lane lines. When the freeway reopens, drivers will have three lanes in each direction.

MnDOT still has a number of tasks to finish before calling the $240 million project complete. That work includes finishing curbs and median barriers, placing underground cables and connecting cameras with MnDOT's traffic management center. The agency also will be completing electrical work, installing signs, painting lanes and grading topsoil.

In the northwest metro, I-94 will remain open through Maple Grove and Rogers this weekend. But drivers can expect lane closures and traffic shifts between the Interstate 494/694/94 interchange and Hwy. 241 in St. Michael.

In the west metro, Hwy. 12 through Maple Plain, Independence and Orono remains closed as MnDOT builds a center median wall between County Roads 6 and 92.

East metro drivers will catch a break this weekend. A planned closure on eastbound Interstate 694 from Hwy. 61 in Maplewood to 10th Street in Oakdale has been moved to July 16-19, MnDOT said.

Green Line light-rail riders will find buses filling in for trains between Union Depot and the Capitol/Rice Street stations from 4:30 a.m. Friday until 4 a.m. Monday, as Metro Transit conducts track maintenance. The replacement buses will not run from midnight to 4 a.m., hours when the Green Line is normally out of service.

Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768