West First Street Closure

Even as business start to re-open following their response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, an onslaught of road construction projects have also gotten off the ground at the same time. Downtown Duluth is a bullseye for many of these projects; MNDOT crews are working on the Lake Avenue Bridge, city crews are busy with the third year of the multi-year Superior Street reconstruction, and - just a little bit south of downtown - MNDOT work crews are doing the advance work on the Twin Ports Interchange Reconstruction (Can of Worms project).

Add one more project to the list - albeit a quick one. A portion of West First Street will close to traffic on Tuesday, May 19 in order to let a contractor have access to an underground transformer that feeds power to the area. A crane will be set up in front of the Centurylink Building from 7:00 AM to 1:00 PM to let them remove and replace the transformer. The east half of the block will have two-way traffic on First Street, to allow access to the buildings. Crews will provide lane markings as appropriate to delineate where traffic can go.

Officials with the City of Duluth have also suggested that in addition to the portion of West First Street that will be closed off, pedestrians will encounter blockages. The sidewalk in front of the Centurylink Building will also be closed during the same time as the street. The sidewalk on the opposite side of the street will remain open for pedestrians and foot traffic.