After a year-long closure for reconstruction, the John Ireland Boulevard bridge over Interstate 94 near the Minnesota Capitol grounds is once again open to traffic as of Friday.
The Minnesota Department of Transportation closed the bridge last October immediately after the Twin Cities Marathon as part of a broader effort to repair bridges over interstate highways in St. Paul.
Gov. Tim Walz speaks with officials from the Minnesota Department of Transportation Friday, Sept. 25, 2026, on the soon-to-be-opened John Ireland Boulevard bridge over Interstate 94 in St. Paul. The bridge is set to open on time for runners in the Twin Cities Marathon, who finish the race after crossing the bridge to the State Capitol Complex. (Alex Derosier / Pioneer Press)
To commemorate the reopening ahead of next weekend’s 45th Twin Cities Marathon, Gov. Tim Walz and MnDOT officials went for a Friday morning run to the bridge — which comes just before the marathon’s finish line.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Walz said he had hoped the John Ireland Boulevard bridge project would be complete ahead of the race, which draws around 30,000 runners across all events.
“There were two that were on my mind a lot. That was (U.S. Highway) 280 being finished before the State fair, which happened — thank you very much — and the John Ireland bridge before the marathon,” he said. “If some of you recall from last year, basically as the last people were crossing the finish line, the barriers went up, and the crews were out at midnight.”
The John Ireland Boulevard bridge was originally supposed to reopen in August, according to past materials from the transportation department, though Walz and state officials hailed the one-year completion as a success.
The four-lane bridge was first built in 1967 and was in safe condition but needed an update to “ensure it remains safe for travelers based on modern weight limits,” according to MnDOT. Besides a rebuild of the bridge structure, work included sidewalk repairs, new railing and accessibility updates.
The bridge will close next weekend for Twin Cities Marathon events on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4. The marathon itself is on Sunday, Oct. 4. Dean Orton, president of marathon organizer Twin Cities in Motion, said more than a million runners have crossed the bridge to the finish line.
“This bridge is the culmination of months of hard training, sometimes years of training,” said MnDOT Commissioner Nancy Daubenberger, a regular participant in the marathon.
Other bridges over Interstate 35E and Interstate 94 in St. Paul are getting repairs and painting. They are: Jackson Street, Robert Street, Minnesota Street, Cedar Street, Wabasha Street North, 10th Street West, Western Avenue North, Marion Street, and the ramp from Fifth Street to westbound I-94.