Major freeway closures planned in Twin Cities this weekend

If you’ll be driving in the Twin Cities this weekend — be warned: Several planned freeway closures may make for challenging travel in the metro.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation says closures will affect parts of Interstates 35W and 494 in Richfield and Bloomington, as well as a stretch of Interstate 94 in St. Paul.

All the closures are set to begin at 10 p.m. Friday, and wrap up by 5 a.m. Monday.

Interstates 35W and 494

MnDOT says both directions of I-35W will be closed between I-494 and Highway 62. For I-494 — the westbound lanes will be closed between Highway 77 and Highway 100, and the eastbound lanes will be closed between Highway 100 and I-35W.

Traffic on I-35W will be detoured using Highway 77. Traffic on I-494 will be detoured to Highway 62, the Crosstown.

The closures will allow crews to remove the westbound I-494 bridge over I-35W, and also continue work on drainage improvements along I-494. It’s part of a multi-year, more-than-$375 million project to make improvements along that stretch of I-494, including adding E-ZPass lanes and repairing or replacing other bridges and ramps.

Interstate 94

Eastbound I-94 will be closed between Highway 280 and I-35E in St. Paul. Traffic will be routed to Highway 36.

It’s part of a planned summer of bridge work along the freeway. MnDOT says crews will be repairing nine bridges over the freeway.

The project also includes rebuilding the John Ireland Boulevard bridge over I-94, between the Minnesota Capitol and the Cathedral of Saint Paul. That won’t begin until October — after the Twin Cities Marathon is done.

MnDOT said the rebuilt bridge will include safety improvements for cyclists and pedestrians.