Four Years of Construction for I-35W / I-494 Interchange Has Begun

There's a much-needed construction project that quietly began on the I-35W/I-494 Interchange back in August. It's going to make the congestion there much better but it's going to take four years of major back-ups to get there.

The first big thing that's going to change at this interchange is there will be a tunnel added under 494 for Metro Transit buses and pedestrians. FOX 9 writes that it "will be part of the 17-mile rapid transit Orange Line from downtown to Burnsville. It will connect to bus stops on Knox and American boulevards, but it will intentionally bypass one of the worst interchanges in the nation."

That project will take two years! The next two years will be alleviating the congestion on 494. To do that, they'll be adding "an additional lane each way on 494 and build a flyover to replace one of the clover leafs."

This is going to be one crazy project but it will make things much better after the four years are up! For the time being, maybe avoid that area of the Twin Cities if you're going hen there's heavy traffic.

Hang out with Carly Ross on The Mighty 920 KDHL weekdays 1-5pm!