urbanMSP

I-35E will be closed Wednesday night through Thursday morning as a new bridge deck is slid into place at Larpenteur Avenue.
http://kstp.com/news/stories/S3495876.shtml

They only managed to move the bridge about halfway, so it sounds like the highway will be closed again tonight, though only at Larpenteur, with traffic routed over the Larpenteur/Wheelock ramps.

http://kstp.com/news/stories/S3499027.shtml

I'm fascinated by the places we're completely rebuilding freeways, but leaving cloverleafs for freeway-to-freeway interchanges. I was most recently thinking about 35E at 36, though this also applies to many places on the 494/694 loop as it has been slowly rebuilt. Now they build a second accel/decel lane through cloverleafs (even rural ones, like I-35 and US 14 in Owatonna) but it still seems so substandard.

Since this thread has bubbled up, I'll mention that the new northbound bridge for the I-35E Cayuga project has been carrying traffic for about a month now. It'll be a while yet before the southbound bridge will be finished and the new Cayuga Street ramps built on the west side of the highway (along with the new Gateway Trail routing).

Yeah, I don't really understand the continuing popularity of cloverleaf interchanges either. They are cheaper, of course (at least if you don't count the cost of land). I think the U.K. hardly has any cloverleafs in its freeway (motorway) network partly because of the huge amount of land they take up, though the overall motorway network in the U.K. is surprisingly small. They depend a lot on A-roads which are more similar to our divided highways.

I'm fascinated by the places we're completely rebuilding freeways, but leaving cloverleafs for freeway-to-freeway interchanges. I was most recently thinking about 35E at 36, though this also applies to many places on the 494/694 loop as it has been slowly rebuilt. Now they build a second accel/decel lane through cloverleafs (even rural ones, like I-35 and US 14 in Owatonna) but it still seems so substandard.

Is the standard a stack interchange? Would there be room for one at 35E & 36?

Compared to stacks and flyover ramps, cloverleafs are cheap. They also function adequately in rural areas with lighter traffic volumes (i.e. I-35/US 14).

When MnDOT redid the southwest leg of I-494 a decade ago, they looked at a flyover at Hwy 7. It was dropped due to cost. It's highly likely that a flyover wasn't considered at 35E/36 due to both cost and the impact of shoehorning a flyover into the existing right-of-way.

We're lucky we got a cloverleaf at US 14 and I-35 instead of a diamond interchange like originally planned.

Honest question on the Parkway section. Is the 4 lane limit only for general purpose lanes, or could a BRT / MnPass lane be added in the median where the dead trees are now? Also, are buses banned as part of the truck ban?

Not sure about the BRT/MnPASS question. But buses are not banned...there are bus shoulder use signs along the 35E Parkway.

I'm always amazed driving up 35E through Eagan. Every single bridge (until you hit HWY 110) looks like it's capable of 8 lanes + full shoulders in BOTH directions (16 lanes total). Adding extra capacity, MNPass, or even LRT would be extremely easy if ever necessary. Anyone know the history here? I'm assuming this was all farmland when constructed and the space was available but its still interesting that they spent the money on the extra long bridge spans that allowed for this much future capacity. What's their life expectancy? They certainly look very well built. I wish more of the metro was as full of future possibilities as this section.

In theory you could easily add MnPass lanes from someplace in Eagan all the way to Grand Ave - the only pinch points would be the Mississippi River bridge and under the West 7th bridge. All of the bridges north of West 7th were build for a 6 lane freeway - all you'd have to do is remove the landscaped median.

Whether it's politically or legally possible, I don't know

The section through Eagan was built in the early 80's I believe - around the same time as 494 from US 52 to Bloomington. By then, everything was built "future-proof"