Drivers rejoice! MnDOT announced that access to southbound I-35W has reopened a whole two years early! Yep! According to MnDOT, "The ramp from Fourth Avenue and 10th Street to southbound I-35W from downtown Minneapolis is scheduled to reopen with a single lane by 3 p.m. Thursday." The ramp closed to the public in June 2018.
Along with the reopening of southbound I-35W, it will include a rebuilt 40th Street pedestrian and bicycle bridge which will also reopen ahead of schedule in October. Crews demolished the bridge in August 2018. It was expected to reopen next year. So far, they have completed many different projects which I'm sure will make a lot of people happy, which you can see below:
- Replaced and reopened bridges over I-35W on Franklin Avenue, 26th Street, 28th Street and 38th Street.
- Reopened the ramp from northbound I-35W to downtown Minneapolis.
- Rebuilt the ramp from westbound I-94 to Fifth Avenue, 11th Street and East Grant Street.
- Provided motorists with new southbound I-35W lanes.
So, there you go...construction actually helpful...hopefully other construction projects around the metro end a little early as well too.