Southbound Ramp at 27th Avenue West Closing For Reconstruction

Road construction season is in full force as various projects move forward throughout the Northland. One area residents have grown accustomed to encountering slow traffic and various detours is near the Twin Ports Interchange Project.

As the estimated $435 million project continues to make progress, more road closures and detours are necessary and another will arrive on Monday, June 19. At least they're waiting until after Grandma's Marathon traffic is gone.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has announced its crews will be working to remove and reconstruct the southbound exit ramp to 27th Avenue West beginning June 26. This will require the southbound ramp to close for approximately 30 days.

During this time, crews will also be paving the southbound lanes adjacent to the ramp. MnDOT says motorists needing to detour will follow southbound I-35 to 40th Avenue West and then back north.

The Twin Ports Interchange Project, which will reconstruct the I-35/I-535/Hwy 53 interchange, looks to improve safety by:

Providing a new conventional design
Relocating all exits and entrances to the right side of the roadway
Improving merging sight distance and eliminating merge conflicts
Eliminating weaving problems near the interchange
Providing lane continuity for through I-35 traffic

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The video below shows what the freeway will look like when completed from a motorist’s view heading north on I-35 through the Twin Ports Interchange area, then heading to southbound I-35 from I-535, or the Blatnik Bridge, through the Twin Ports Interchange area.

The Duluth Interchange Project is scheduled to be completed in 2024. Motorists should drive with caution when approaching areas where road construction and detours are in progress. Allow extra time to reach your destination and look out for workers out on the road.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.