Washington Ave closure marks big changes at U of M

The main artery through the University of Minnesota's east bank campus closed down early this morning.

Washington Avenue has been shut down by construction work on the Central Corridor light rail line between St. Paul and Minneapolis.

That means the 25,000 vehicles that normally travel Washington every day are being redirected around campus.  It'll be a pain for commuters, but the U of M has information online that should help people find their way around the construction.

This is no temporary shut down.  Construction on Washington will continue for three years.  When it's done the street will closed to cars to make way for a train/bus/bike/pedestrian transit mall.

The Central Corridor light rail line is expected to start service by June of 2014.

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