CONE ZONE: 3 major highway closures happening this weekend

Driving across the Twin Cities and the surrounding suburbs will be a bit tricky this weekend – the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) has planned full directional closures on three different highways.

The three highways affected are I-94, Highway 36 and Highway 55. While one of the closures will only last for one day, the other two will be in effect all weekend.

A full breakdown of the closures, as well as alternate routes, can be found below. An interactive traffic map showing real-time conditions can be found at the very bottom of the article.

I-94

Starting at 10 p.m. Friday, drivers headed west will be unable to use the lanes on I-94 between I-35E and Highway 280 in St. Paul. The closure will last until 5 a.m. Monday.

Drivers can use northbound I-35E, westbound Highway 36 and south on Highway 280 to get around the detour.

According to MnDOT, the closure will allow workers to remove graffiti on the bridges and walls, repair and replace lights, clean and repair storm sewer drain systems, inspect and repair bridge decks and remove vegetation.

Highway 36

While westbound Highway 36 will be available as a detour for those drivers using I-94, the eastbound lanes will be closed between I-35W in Roseville and I-35E in Little Canada.

This closure will begin at 9 p.m. Friday and also end at 5 a.m. Monday and is the latest in a series of Highway 36 directional closures as MnDOT continues an ongoing repair and resurfacing project on six miles of highway lanes. The project is expected to be done later this month.

A detour using northbound I-35W, eastbound I-694 and southbound I-35E will be posted.

In addition, ramps to and from Highway 36 and Edgerton Street will stay closed until roughly 5 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 12.

Highway 55

Highway 55 will close westbound on Friday at 10 p.m. until Monday at 5 a.m. The closure will go from Highway 169 to I-494.