The Interstate 494 and 34th Avenue South Diverging Diamond Interchange project started construction at the beginning of July 2013 and was substantially completed at the end of October 2013. Final completion occurred at the end of November 2013. The project consisted of reconstructing the Interstate 494 and 34th Avenue South Interchange into a Diverging Diamond Interchange. This project is the third Diverging Diamond Interchange built in Minnesota and the first in the country to incorporate Light Rail Transit. This project won the APWA 2014 Public Works Project of the Year Award for Transportation in the $5 million to $25 million range. The biggest challenge on this project was keeping the light rail train active at all times. There were only four weekend shutdowns of the light rail train allowed, all of which were reopened ahead of schedule.