Weekend closure of I-94, Hennepin and Lyndale avenues continues

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Interstate 94 in Minneapolis is again scheduled to close from 10 p.m. Friday, May 11 until 5 a.m. Monday, May 14. This I-94 weekend closure is between Highway 55 and Interstate 35W.

Hennepin Avenue and Lyndale Avenue between Dunwoody Boulevard and Oak Grove Street (near Loring Park) will also be closed. Work will continue on westbound Interstate I-394 between downtown and Highway 100, which will restrict access to and from westbound I-394.

According to MnDOT, the closures are needed to repair and paint the Irene Hixon Whitney Bridge, the pedestrian bridge over I-94 between the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and Loring Park. Restoring the bridge’s wooden deck will continue into August. During this weekend closure, cleaning of the Lowry Tunnel and striping on westbound I-394 will also happen.

Another weekend closure, May 18-21, is planned on I-94 and Hennepin/Lyndale for the repairs and painting of the Whitney Bridge.

During that same weekend, as part of the 35W@94: Downtown to Crosstown reconstruction project, Highway 65, which provides access to and from downtown Minneapolis and I-35W, will also be closed to demolish the flyover bridge that provides access from northbound I-35W to westbound I-94.

MnDOT has set detours for this weekend’s closures:
•    For eastbound I-94 or westbound I-394 detour from I-94, motorists can take westbound Hwy 55 to Hwy 100, and then take northbound Hwy 100 to the eastbound I-94 detour or take southbound Hwy 100 to I-394

•    For the eastbound I-94 detour from I-394, motorists can take northbound Hwy 100, before the I-394/I-94 junction, to eastbound Interstate 694, to southbound I-35W and then to southbound Highway 280 to I-94. 

•    For the eastbound I-94 detour from I-694/I-94, motorists can take eastbound I-694, to southbound I-35W and then to southbound Hwy 280 to I-94. 

•    For the westbound I-94 detour, motorists can go northbound on Hwy 280, before the I-94/I-35W junction, to northbound I-35W and then to westbound I-694 to I-94.

•    For the westbound I-94 detour from northbound I-35W, motorists can continue on northbound I-35W and then to westbound I-694 to I-94.

•    For the westbound I-94 detour from southbound I-35W, motorists can take southbound I-35W, to westbound Highway 62, to northbound Hwy 100, and then will need to go eastbound on I-694 to the East River Road exit loops to access westbound I-694 to I-94.

•    For northbound Hennepin Avenue/Lyndale Avenue, motorists can go eastbound on Franklin Avenue to northbound First Avenue South and continue on Marquette Avenue, and then to take a left onto 11th Street South to Hennepin Avenue, or continue on 11th Street South and then take a left on Glenwood Avenue to Lyndale Avenue.

•    For southbound Hennepin Avenue/Lyndale Avenue from I-94, motorist can take a left onto Hennepin Avenue, then a right on 12th Street South and then take a right onto LaSalle Avenue to westbound Franklin Avenue to Lyndale Avenue, or continue on Franklin Avenue to Hennepin Avenue.

This work is part of the I-94 Minneapolis to Brooklyn Center project, a maintenance and restoration project for a nine-mile stretch of I-94 between Nicollet Avenue in Minneapolis and Shingle Creek Parkway in Brooklyn Center