UPDATE 10/19/23 - MNDOT has announced the lane closures have been postponed until October 30.

ORIGINAL STORY -

The Twin Ports Interchange Project has been underway since 2021, and it's been a headache for commuters, especially those who travel between Superior, Wisconsin, and Duluth, Minnesota. While it's been an inconvenience, it's also been a necessary project as MNDOT has needed to replace the aging infrastructure, enhance safety, and improve freight mobility. Still, it's been a pain in the butt for motorists.

MNDOT
MNDOT
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Just this last Saturday I was caught in bumper-to-bumper stopped traffic because of an accident shutting down a lane. There was also a UMD hockey game happening that night. With all the traffic, the accident, and people driving down from the North Shore on I-35, it took an hour to make it from Lake Avenue to 27th Avenue West.

MN DOT
MN DOT
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Closures beginning Thursday, October 18, 2023

Starting Thursday, MNDOT will be closing Duluth-bound traffic on the Blatnik Bridge for 2-4 weeks.

Superior bound traffic off the Blatnik Bridge won't be affected beyond the normal one-lane closure. However, Superior is going to face a lot of congestion on Belknap Street from all the traffic being routed over the Bong Bridge to Duluth. On peak traffic times, Belknap Street faces blocked intersections near Banks and Tower Avenue.

As of October 18, the upcoming traffic impacts from MNDOT are as follows:

  • Beginning Thursday Oct. 19, at 6 a.m. - The Duluth bound side of the I-535 Blatnik Bridge will close for 2 to 4 weeks. Traffic headed to Superior via the I-535 Blatnik Bridge will not be affected by this closure.

There's hope in sight!

The good news is that following this closure, we'll be able to access I-35 North Bound off the Blatnik Bridge, according to the Superior Telegram [Paywall]. The connection to Highway 53 and South Bound I-35 will remain closed. Still, that will be a huge improvement.

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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.

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