Highway 7 Construction Begins This Weekend

Blake Road and Aquila Avenue will be closed at Highway 7 by the end of the day Sunday to allow CenterPoint Energy to inspect a section of natural gas pipeline.

Work will be take place in the center of the Highway 7 and Blake Road intersection. Highway 7 will have at least one lane open in each direction throughout the three- to four-week project.

However, both Blake Road and Aquila Avenue will be closed at Highway 7, with the exception of right turns on to Highway 7. Left turns from Highway 7 to both Blake Road and Aquila Avenue will be prohibited. Bicyclists and pedestrians will be unable to cross Highway 7 at Blake Road.

Those who wish to visit Knollwood businesses will have to use Texas Avenue and 36th Street instead.

The Highway 7 closure begins just as a much-briefer Highway 169 closure ends. The Minnesota Department of Transportation will completely close Highway 169 between County Road 62 and Excelsior Boulevard to remove the Bren Road bridge.

Highway 169 will be fully shutdown in both directions from 10 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday while crews work around the clock to demolish the bridge and remove debris.