Greenway bridge over Mississippi is on ice

I wrote this post a few weeks ago and then pulled it after deciding it was boring and irrelevant. I couldn't have imagined how relevant a story about a bridge could be; the 35W bridge just a mile or two up the river has collapsed, in a sudden horrifying moment during rush hour. Here it the post again with some edits.

Startribune.com's current headline is "Plan for new bridge across Mississippi is put on hold." They must have heard the same report that I did at last night's LCC Environment and Transportation Committee meeting. Hennepin County staff and their consulting engineers presented a report on options for a bicycle/pedestrian bridge crossing the Mississippi River as a continuation of the Midtown Greenway. The original plan was to use the Canadian Pacific railroad bridge just north of Lake Street, but that does not appear to be a viable option any more. I was impressed by the obvious care that the engineers had put into this project, and I trust what they are telling us about the situation.

The main facts that I learned were:
1. The existing Canadian Pacific railroad bridge was built approximately 100-120 years ago using an obsolete "pin" design that is being phased out because it can collapse if a single pin fails.
2. It is very difficult to ascertain the condition of this kind of bridge. The most useful tests are very difficult to do, and would be prohibitively expensive to perform.
3. Modern bridges have a life span similar to humans, which makes this bridge ancient.
4. Canadian Pacific Rail doesn't want to let us use its scary old bridge anyway.

It sounds like the community would be better off replacing the bridge. But that can't happen without the cooperation of the railroad. The rail line is used regularly on a very limited basis (one train a day or week--I forget which), and the railroad is not saying whether it plans to continue using the line or not.

The community could also build a bridge next to the railroad bridge, and engineers presented several design plans for a new bridge. But all of them would require a major jog in the path of travel, and probably a drop in grade. None of them are as elegant as crossing straight over the river at the site of the existing bridge. And apparently there are many obstacles to accomplishing that project: jurisdiction problems as well as concerns from the environmental preservationists about adding a bridge to the river gorge.

If only CP Rail would share its plans for the bridge, the community could move forward with a plan for creating a bicycle/pedestrian crossing over the river. The engineers presented options for building a parallel bridge that might only be a "second" bridge for a short time until the railroad takes down its bridge. Maybe those who want to limit the number of bridges crossing the river would be more comfortable if they knew that the railroad bridge was coming down.

But CP Rail doesn't seem to be talking. The bridge project is not over, but it's on ice indefinitely.