Hwy 52 bridge closed for construction

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is closing the Highway 52 bridge over the Mississippi in St. Paul starting at 9 a.m. on Saturday.

The road will be closed in both directions. Crews will be moving north and southbound traffic to the newly completed east span of the Lafayette bridge. That will allow crews to demolish the west, southbound span to start construction of a new bridge there.

Work has been ongoing on Highway 52 since 2011. This weekend's closure marks the completion of half of the river bridge project. The plan also has modified and realigned the Highway 52 bridges over Interstate 94, just east of downtown St. Paul.

Work on the $150 million dollar project is expected to continue through October of 2015. The project replaces a steel span bridge that opened in 1968, and was considered one of the state's most vulnerable highway bridges. The new span will also add bike and pedestrian access across the river for the first time.