The road under Interstate 90 along Turtle Creek closed Monday for bridge work and is scheduled to remain closed through the fall.

A stretch of 12th Avenue Northwest below the Interstate 90 Turtle Creek bridges in northwest Austin is closed, and the Minnesota Department of Transportation advises motorists to find alternate routes.

Construction on the westbound bridge should be completed by November, MnDOT project manager Terry Ward said, and 12th Avenue will reopen temporarily for winter.

The road will then close again as work begins on the eastbound bridge in spring 2010, Ward said.

The two bridges, built in 1959 and remodeled in 1980, are scheduled to be replaced.

The work is part of the larger “Bridges of Mower County” project, which is funded partially by federal stimulus dollars and partially by state dollars.

In addition to the Turtle Creek bridges, work will be done on a double-box culvert for I-90 over Dobbins Creek in northeast Austin and a “flyover” bridge nearby for exiting westbound I-90.

Ward said the $12.8 million Bridges of Mower County packs those jobs together to make the work as efficient and fast as possible, so as to minimize inconveniences for county residents.

The entire project is slated to be finished by September 2010.