Community Corner
Of Detours and Diamonds: Interchange Construction Closes Airport Exit Ramps
I-494 and 34th Avenue will see rolling closures during summer 2013.
(Patch Field Editor James Sanna wrote this article.)
Travelers trying to get to Terminal 2 (Humphrey Terminal) at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will have their work cut out for them, starting Monday.
From July 1, 2013, the westbound exit ramp from I-494 to 34th Avenue South will be closed while crews dig, pour, hammer and pave a new kind of onramp/offramp complex, called a Diverging Diamond Interchange, or DDI.* Over the coming weeks, according to a MnDOT press release, the following other parts of the interchange will close for construction:
Travelers trying to get to Terminal 2 (Humphrey Terminal) at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport will have their work cut out for them, starting Monday.
From July 1, 2013, the westbound exit ramp from I-494 to 34th Avenue South will be closed while crews dig, pour, hammer and pave a new kind of onramp/offramp complex, called a Diverging Diamond Interchange, or DDI.* Over the coming weeks, according to a MnDOT press release, the following other parts of the interchange will close for construction:
- Beginning July 1, 2013: Closure of I-494 westbound exit ramp to 34th Ave. To access 34th Ave., drivers will continue to the 24th Ave. exit off I-494 and follow Airport Lane to 34th Ave.
- Beginning July 19, 2013: Closure of 34th Ave. entrance ramp to I-494 eastbound. From 34th Ave., drivers will take Airport Lane to 24th Ave. to the I-494 eastbound entrance.
- Beginning Aug. 9, 2013: Closure of 34th Ave. entrance ramp to I-494 westbound. From 34th Ave., drivers will take Airport Lane to 24th Ave. and use the 24th Ave. entrance onto westbound I-494.
- Beginning Aug. 30, 2013: Closure of I-494 eastbound exit ramp to 34th Ave. For access to 34th Ave., drivers will take the 24th Ave. exit off of I-494 and follow AirportLane to 34th Ave.
- Beginning Sept. 20, 2013: Full closure of 34th Ave. to through traffic under I-494 in both directions. Entrance and exit ramps for I-494 will be right-turn ONLY. Drivers should use 24th Ave. as the alternate route.
- 7:30 p.m., July 26, to 3:30 a.m., July 29, 2013
- 12 a.m., Aug. 9, to 3:30 a.m., Aug. 12, 2013
- 7:30 p.m., Sept. 27, to 3:30 a.m., Sept. 29, 2013
- 11 p.m., Oct. 4, to 3:30 a.m., Oct. 7, 2013
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MnDOT claims DDIs "improve traffic flow at busy intersections, reduce congestion and enhance safety by allowing left turn movements to flow more freely. The DDI design is increasingly becoming a popular interchange in the U.S. The 2013 construction of the 34th Ave. DDI will be the first such U.S. project that incorporates railway commuting as well as motorist traffic. It will also mark the first DDI to debut in the Twin Cities metro area"
Resources:
*An earlier version of this article mistakenly said "Divertless" instead of "Diverting." Thank you to Patch user Tim for the correction.
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