St. Paul's Snelling Avenue bridge over I-94 reopens Friday

The Snelling Avenue bridge over Interstate 94 is reopening Friday night, a week ahead of schedule and comfortably ahead of the Minnesota State Fair.

The bridge will reopen by midnight Friday, the Minnesota Department of Transportation said Thursday. The span was supposed to open next week, just a week before the fair.

The bridge is part of one of the busiest stretches of local streets in Minnesota and a key access route to the State Fair. It's been closed since the second weekend of May as crews removed the driving surface and replaced the decking, rails and other bridge parts.

Metro Transit is also rebuilding stretches along Snelling Avenue to accommodate bus rapid transit services from Rosedale to the Blue Line station on 46th Street in Minneapolis.

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