The Minnesota Department of Transportation
has announced that the 76th Street Bridge over I-35W will be
closed at 12:01 a.m. on Monday, April 28, 2008. The current bridge will be
torn down and replaced by November 2008 by a new 76th Street
Bridge. 76th Street will be closed between Knox Ave. and Girard
Ave. Traffic on 76th Street will have to use alternate routes
to travel between both sides of I-35W for approximately seven months
during the construction of the new bridge.
35W Entrance Ramps
Mn/DOT estimates the northbound 76th
Street entrance ramp will remain open during construction with some
intermittent closures while the bridge is constructed. Mn/DOT will notify
travelers prior to any ramp closures. The southbound 76th Street
exit ramp will be closed during bridge construction. City staff is
suggesting the use of either 66th Street or American Boulevard in
Bloomington as an alternate route for most east-west trips.
Why is the bridge
being replaced?
The old bridge needs to be replaced
because of its deficiency and it has a low clearance that resulted in
trucks colliding with the bridge on several occasions. Furthermore, the
new bridge is built to accommodate future 35W widening and traffic demand.
The construction of the new 76th
Street Bridge over I-35W is being coordinated with the Metropolitan
Council Environmental Services to install a new sanitary sewer interceptor
line under I-35W at 76th Street. The sewer line is part of a
larger project to increase capacity of sanitary sewers along I-494 from
Edina and through Richfield. The new sewer line will be built along 75th
Street west of 35W and along 76th Street east to 11th
Avenue where it turns north to 72nd Street, travels east to
Diagonal Boulevard and ends at Cedar Avenue. The sewer work is scheduled
for 2009 through 2011.
Bike Lane Feature
The new 76th Street Bridge
will provide a pedestrian/bike trail that will connect to a regional trail
planned along 75th Street on the west side of 35W and to 76th
Street on the east side of 35W. The new regional trail will be built as part
of the metro sewer project in 2009 to 2011.
