Hwy. 14/61 North of La Crescent closing at 9 p.m. tonight

Closure will last throughout weekend

Highway 14/61 heading north out of La Crescent, Minn., will now be closed at 9 p.m. tonight.

Originally, the Minnesota Dept. of Transportation was going to close the highway at 5 p.m. Friday. Perhaps, someone figured out that might be a bad time to close a road, being it’s rush hour. La Crescent has a rush hour, right?

The closure is taking place because the old Interstate 90 bridge is coming down.

That means people trying to get to and from La Crescent will have an even bigger detour beginning at 9 p.m.

The road will remain closed until 5 a.m. Monday when traffic should be back to it’s regular detour.

“I believe they’re using it as a staging area for the deconstruction of the old I-90 bridge,” La Crescent police chief Doug Stavenau said of the 14/61 closure.

Detours should be clearly marked.

Those wanting to get to La Crescent from Wisconsin will have to go through downtown La Crosse and the Cass Street bridge.

Those coming from the west will have to exit in Nodine, Minn., and travel on Apple Blossom Drive to get to or through La Crescent.

The bridge project is supposedly going to be complete come September.