Here’s Why Traffic Is Going To Be A Nightmare in the Twin Cities This Weekend
Chances are you might be heading up to the Cities this weekend-- the Vikings, Twins, Gophers and Wild all have home games, plus the Twin Cities Marathon is also taking place. But there's an EXTRA reason traffic could be a nightmare.
It's because MnDOT is closing I-35W in both directions from Minneapolis all the way to Highway-62 (the Crosstown) from Friday night through Sunday morning. And if you're trying to get to downtown Minneapolis, that's a key way you WON'T be able to use this weekend.
Now, sure, there are alternate routes you can take-- like taking Highway-52 to I-94 and then heading west to Minneapolis, or taking Highway-55 (Hiawatha Avenue) into downtown Minneapolis-- but seeing as there will be TONS of other cars trying to do the same thing, get ready for some big-time traffic-- and maybe a big-time headache.
So just WHY would MnDOT decide to close a major Twin Cities freeway on a weekend when so much is going on? Don't they LOOK at these things?!? Well, even though that's kind of what it seems like, MnDOT said they don't have much of a choice. They're closing that stretch so they can demolish a bridge that's part of the I-35 redesign project-- and if they don't do it this weekend, it'll throw everything off.
According to MnDOT Commissioner Charlie Zelle explained it this way: "The redesign of the I-35W corridor through Minneapolis is a very complex project, and the work we accomplish this weekend is necessary to keep it on schedule and any delay would add significant costs to the project,” he said in a Pioneer Press story.
Not that I doubt the good Commissioner (okay, actually I do-- a little), but it sure seems to me that perhaps they could have worked a little ahead and maybe closed that stretch last weekend. There's never a good time, of course, but it seem like a REALLY bad idea to do it this weekend with all those events taking place.
So, if you're heading up to the Twin Cities this weekend, be sure to give yourself plenty of extra time-- and check the latest traffic updates HERE.