14-07-2025
Buckle up: More Twin Cities commute pain ahead
Daily commutes downtown could get a lot worse starting Monday.
Driving our pain: MnDOT is kicking off a fresh construction and paving project on I-94 and I-394, bringing lane closures and more bottlenecks to the west end of downtown.
What to expect: A "giant cone zone stretching from Dunwoody College to the University of Minnesota," as the Star Tribune put it, with overnight lane closures on eastbound I-394 between Penn Ave. and Dunwoody Blvd. through July 28.
E-ZPass lanes between downtown Minneapolis and Highway 100 will close starting at the end of the month.
The big picture: The work, expected to last through November, comes at the peak of a busy summer road construction season in the metro, which includes another ongoing project that has slowed traffic on 94 between Minneapolis and St. Paul for months.
Highway 55, a typical alternate route for 394, will also be under construction.
Plus: The combination of drivers trying to go around the construction zones and local road repair projects has jammed up side roads, including East Lake Street and Marshall Avenue, for months.
Zoom out: MnDOT's summer to-do list includes roughly 180 projects aimed at shoring up the state's roads, bridges and transportation infrastructure.
Other recent construction zones include the I-494 bridge over the Minnesota River and a stretch of 494 between MSP Airport and Highway 100.
What they're saying: In a statement to Axios, MnDOT said it's trying to balance minimizing disruptions with completing "critical infrastructure" work during the state's "short construction season."
The agency noted that it delayed the I-394 work to reduce overlap with the construction happening to the east of downtown Minneapolis.
Between the lines: While it may seem like there's more construction than usual this summer, the number of projects is fairly typical, per the Star Tribune.
The bottom line:"Plan ahead, work earlier or later, work from home," Tim Nelson, director of construction for MnDOT's Metro District, told the Star Tribune.
