Important Road Construction Information to Minimize Travel Frustration During Grandma’s Marathon Weekend 2013

Travel during Grandma's Marathon weekend can be difficult with the addition of thousands of runners, spectators and tourists.  Add the dimension of road construction and the word frustration comes to mind.  However, if you are aware of areas of road construction, you can do your best to take an alternate route and avoid an unpleasant experience.  Share this information with friends and family coming in from out of town!  Here's what you need to know.

I-35 construction between Esko (approximate) and Boundary Avenue in Duluth

• Traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction.
• Backups are likely on northbound I-35 Friday afternoon/evening with the influx of participants travelling from the south. Historically the peak period for northbound I-35 traffic in Duluth is from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
• As an alternate route, consider taking Highway 23 from Banning Junction to Duluth. This route will avoid any I-35 construction congestion.

I-535 construction (Blatnik Bridge)

• Traffic will be reduced to a single lane on southbound I-535 (toward Superior).
• The single lane may impact participants staying in Superior. They should not be impacted on their way from Superior to Duluth on Saturday morning.
• Participants traveling to Superior from Duluth may want to consider using Highway 2 (Bong Bridge).