I-35W To Be Epicenter Of Spring, Summer Construction
ROSEVILLE, Minn. (WCCO) -- It's a sign of spring. Once the snow starts melting, the orange cones start rolling out.
On Sunday, MnDOT will kick off another massive, multi-year project, constructing MnPASS lanes from Roseville to Blaine.
"We do have some closures that are going to be coming up. There will be ramp closures as we go through the project, and we will have some weekend closures to take down bridges," MnDOT's Kent Barnard said.
This makes 35W and I-35 the epicenter of spring and summer road construction.
Tens of thousands of drivers will be impacted by four different projects, including the MnPASS construction, the Downtown to Crosstown redo, resurfacing near Lino Lakes and bridge replacement over the Minnesota River in Bloomington.
In the north metro, Barnard said MnDOT made some temporary changes to ease congestion like adding stop signs, putting up traffic signals and making turn lanes.
"We sat down and came up with a list of various traffic changes we could make to hopefully ease traffic along the city and county road that are going to be affected," said Barnard.
He points frustrated drivers to MnDOT's "Know Your Route" website, where you can get real-time road and traffic reports about state roads and highways.
"I would encourage people to be patient with this project because when we are done, it's going to be much smoother travel and more reliable travel times for people," Barnard said.
