I-35W/I-94/MN 55 "Spaghetti Junction", Downtown Minneapolis

Prior to the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, MnDOT had been studying the downtown Minneapolis freeway network with an eye towards short-term and mid-term improvements and a long-term vision.  While the bridge collapse accelerated plans (obviously) for a new I-35W river bridge, there has been no new information on the rest of the freeway study.

A major part of the long-range vision involves reconstruction and improvement of the I-35W/I-94 commons area, locally known as "Spaghetti Junction".  A conceptual vision from mid-2007 highlighted additional lanes on both I-35W and I-94, revised ramps, several new ramps for local access, improved frontage roads for local circulation, and the addition of ramps for the "missing movements", from WB I-94 to NB I-35W and SB I35W to EB I-94.

Here is my idea for the I-35W/I-94/MN 55 junction area, overlaid on top of 2005 aerial imagery from NAIP.  Click on the image for a larger graphic (warning, larger graphic is 1.0MB).

This idea is based largely on the conceptual vision MnDOT developed in 2007, while making some improvements that I felt were lacking from the conceptual vision.  Some of the highlights of my idea, starting with Interstate mainline highlights, then ramp/street improvements arranged from southwest to northeast:

Some existing ramps and access points will need to be removed in order to make the other improvements.  They are:

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Page last modified 15 June, 2008