Weekend road woes: I-94 resurfacing closure postponed, but other road work still on

This weekend's traffic impacts.
This weekend's traffic impacts. Click here to view a larger version.
Courtesy of Minnesota Department of Transportation

The Minnesota Department of Transportation is cancelling a planned weekend shut down of a major interstate in the Twin Cities.

Road crews were going to finish resurfacing westbound Interstate 94 in St. Paul this weekend between Western Avenue and Highway 280, but MnDOT says the contractor working on the project decided to postpone the road closure due to rain in the forecast.

The project also includes guardrail, sidewalk and ramp work that will continue through October.

MnDOT hasn't yet announced when the next closure will be scheduled.

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Meanwhile, plans are still in place for weekend work on eastbound I-94 in Minneapolis between Interstate 394 and Interstate 35W. That section of interstate will close Friday at 10 p.m. and reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday.

Starting Monday, 15th Street will be closed between 4th Avenue and Portland Avenue through mid-July. The eastbound detour will go on northbound 3rd Avenue, eastbound 10th Street and southbound Portland Avenue.

Motorists traveling westbound will detour on southbound Portland Avenue/northbound Park Avenue, westbound Grant Street/11th Street and southbound 3rd Avenue.

Minnesota's transportation commissioner Margaret Anderson Kelliher said motorists should allow for extra time getting around the Twin Cities during a heavy weekend of construction.

Kelliher said slowdowns and detours caused by the work can be frustrating but it will mean interstate upgrades across the area.

She suggests travelers use the Transportation Department's 511 service before heading out, but also build in more time for travel.

"If you start late and then you push it and you can't get there and you are jeopardizing the safety of the folks in the work zones, your fellow motorists and you are also making yourself pretty agitated. So a little more time and calming down and taking the extra time," she said.

Take a look at major traffic impacts in the Twin Cities area here.

Statewide drivers can check out MnDOT's map of state traffic impact here.