Motorists in Owatonna will find Steele County Road 2/Hoffman Drive closed beginning at 7 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m., Monday. The closure this weekend is necessary for work crews to safely remove the Interstate 35 bridge over the road.

Traffic will re-open through County Road 2/Hoffman Drive at I-35 Monday morning. If work is completed earlier, the road will reopen at that time. Motorists traveling west from Owatonna will have access to the northbound I-35 ramp at Hoffman Drive.

A bridge demolition is also taking place during the week on I-35 over Canadian Pacific Railway tracks, but no detours or road closures are necessary.

Additionally, construction on road repairs for Old Highway 14 will begin Wednesday. Motorists will see lane closures begin as work starts.

Motorists will see single-lane, head-to-head traffic on I-35 in Owatonna as well as off-ramp and on-ramp closures for northbound traffic, according to the Minnesota Department of Transportation.

Northbound traffic is crossed over into the southbound lanes of I-35 south of Bridge Street. Northbound traffic will continue in a single lane, while southbound uses the other lane. Northbound traffic will cross back over to two lanes north of Steele County Road 2.

The $19.1 million project is taking place over two years to replace the concrete I-35 roadways through Owatonna, as well as replace bridges and include additional safety features on the corridor. The project with prime contractor Mathiowetz Construction began the second year of construction in April and is expected to be complete in fall 2015.

Because of the traffic volumes on I-35, traffic backups and delays occur during weekend travel periods through this construction workzone, so motorists should adjust their travel plans to account for delays.

MnDOT urges motorists to always be attentive, drive with caution, slow down in work zones and never enter a road blocked with barriers or cones.

For real-time traffic and travel information in Minnesota, visit www.511mn.org, call 5-1-1 or log on to www.mndot.gov.

For more information about the project, please review MnDOT’s project page at  www.dot.state.mn.us/d6/projects/i35bridge-pavement-replacement/index.html or the project’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/I35Owatonna.