Five Miles Of Hwy 100 Closing For Overpass Overhaul
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - The start of spring brings more than longer days and warmer weather, it also signals the start of road construction season.
The first major closure in the metro this year starts at 9 p.m. Friday night on Highway 100.
Five miles of the busy stretch will be shut down between Interstate 394 and the Crosstown.
The freshly baked pastries and desserts are the driving force behind customer traffic at Patisserie Margo, but owner Margo Bredeson is expecting to see a slowdown in this weekend's rush.
The bakery is located off Highway 100 and Vernon Avenue, right in the middle of a five-mile stretch that will close for 56 hours for construction.
"I'll probably make a notice for our employees and customers to let them know this is happening, and here are other ways to get here," Bredeson said.
MnDOT is in the midst of a massive overhaul to the Minnetonka Boulevard and Highway 7 interchanges.
"What we're going to do is change some of the geometrics, and we're making that weaving -- we're giving them more distance to weave," a MnDOT staffer said.
The heavy lifting on the overpasses begins this weekend, just north of 36th street. But the closure stretches another three miles farther, to Highway 62. MnDOT says its a necessary step to reroute the 100,000 to 130,000 vehicles that travel that stretch each day.
"The intersections from 394 and 62 will keep people on the state roads and try to avoid people cutting through neighborhoods," the MnDOT staffer said.
The slowdowns will continue beyond the weekend: Traffic will be reduced to two lanes each direction on either the north or southbound side of the highway.
Back at Patisserie Margo, customers are already planning their detours for the start of yet another construction season.
"I'm only half a mile from here, so I can walk if I have to," one customer said.
Highway 100 should reopen ahead of rush hour Monday morning.
This is the first of eight scheduled weekend shutdowns this season.
The entire construction project is expected to be done by fall of next year.