MINNEAPOLIS - A section of Highway 55 is temporarily closing west of downtown Minneapolis on Monday.
The Bassett Creek stormwater tunnel needs to be replaced. Crews are shutting down the highway for a quarter mile.
If you're heading east on Hwy. 55 toward downtown, the detour is Hwy. 100 South to 394 East. And if you're heading west on Hwy. 55 out of downtown you should access 394 either from downtown or from I-94, then use Hwy. 100 north to reconnect with Highway 55.
MnDOT crews say the Bassett Creek stormwater tunnel is 130 years old and it's structurally deficient.
The storm sewer pipe project is budgeted for $3.2 million.
MnDOT crews say the project needs to be done to make room for a future project, the Blue Line Light Rail Extension. There will be a station built at Van White Boulevard and there will be tracks in the highway median. Authorities estimate doing the tunnel projet now will save $3 million in the long run.
The Hwy. 55 closure will last about two weeks and the final restoration work will be finished in the spring.
Monday's closure is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m.