Well, at least the folks in the highway construction war room waited until after the heavily traveled Memorial Day weekend before shutting down a major stretch of Twin Cities interstate for an entire weekend.

That’s the imminent fate of I-35W from south of downtown Minneapolis to Hwy. 62 at the border with Richfield, according to state transportation officials. The next two weekends will also see both-direction interstate closings in Minneapolis for road work.

Round 1 starts Friday at 10 p.m. with both sides of 35W closing until 5 a.m. Monday for demolition of the 26th Street overpass. Northbound will be closed from I-94 down to Hwy. 62, while southbound will be off-limits from I-94 to 46th Street. Crews will begin closing the entrance and exit ramps for 35W roughly one hour before closing the interstate.

The 26th Street overpass closes to traffic at 6 a.m. Friday and will remain closed until mid-November.

To the north, the rebuilt Franklin Avenue bridge reopens for people on foot, bicycles or in emergency vehicles starting Friday and for all traffic in mid-June, the Minnesota Department of Transportation announced.

In addition to this weekend’s 35W closure, there are two more construction-related shutdowns: I-94 between I-394 and I-35W, from June 8-11; and another for 35W June 15-18.

These closures are part of a four-year reconstruction project that includes repaving, improving overpasses and ramps, adding new access ramps to the Lake Street business district, building a new transit station on 35W and constructing new MnPass lanes.

For more information, including detours, visit 511mn.org.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482