St. Croix River Crossing

[mullen]

this should be tolled as it's basically a wisconsin development project.

[tabletop]

There's a good article up on minnpost about the bridge http://www.minnpost.com/earth-journal/2 ... y-it-opens

[THERAT]

Web cam

http://www.dot.state.mn.us/stcroixcrossing/webcam.html

[UptownSport]

Pioneer Press had an article on difficulties of construction:

http://www.twincities.com/localnews/ci_ ... cities.com

[Mdcastle]

I've been to a number of the public meetings (and they're always surprised I'd drive from Bloomington to attend them) and have talked with the engineers about the difficulties of building piers. That's the engineering reason for selecting the extra-dosed design over a generic girder bridge (although aesthetics was the main reason), and why they were excited when they figured out they could get by with one less pier.

[Mdcastle]

Thought people might be interested in the Willits Bypass in California, which has a lot of parallels to our St. Croix Crossing and Hiawatha reroute.

Similarities:
* A new freeway through an environmentally sensitive area to solve a severe traffic problem in a tourist oriented town.
* A project that was conceived in the 1950s but was delayed for decades by funding and litigation
* An absolutely huge amount of environmental mitigation ($26 million in CA, $27.6 million here).
* Attracting attentions from around the state and around the country.

Differences:
* The Willits bypass costs a lot less, especially the first phase which is a super-2 at $210 million, as opposed to $626 million (the median official estimate).
* Litigation is winding down there but not quite finished yet. The judge seemed disinclined to stop the project but gave oppenents once last chance to prove themselves. And a separate lawsuit was filed regarding taking fill dirt from another source. Meanwhile construction (mainly tree removal and earth moving) has started, but it's probably not beyond the point of no return there.

Also you have antics like people (mostly non-locals) sitting in trees and chaining themselves to equipment like what was happening here on Hiawatha

I'll have the misfortune to drive through Willits rather than being able to use a bypass this Wed, so I'll see how it goes.

[web]

yeah but all the bypass entails is a 2 lane road.....downscoped from 4. This town and its signals back up for miles in summer. only a mile or so other times of the year.

[UptownSport]

Sorry to say, but if they're going to build the bridge there'd really be no way to justify only two lanes. "Progress" (Developers making wads of cash) would sooner or later demand additional lanes.
Hate to say it.

[RailBaronYarr]

* A new freeway through an environmentally sensitive area to solve a severe traffic problem in a tourist oriented town.

I'll be interested to see how well downtown Stillwater businesses do once they solve their traffic problem.

[Minneboy]

* A new freeway through an environmentally sensitive area to solve a severe traffic problem in a tourist oriented town.

I'll be interested to see how well downtown Stillwater businesses do once they solve their traffic problem.

It will definitely be more enjoyable so my guess should do better.

[UptownSport]

DT Stillwater traffic really sucks from the atmosphere (perhaps more than the icky condo developments)

[Suburban Outcast]

They could have just built a bridge with 3 lanes on it, with the center lane being reversible. The Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver handles 60,000 - 70,000 AADT with just 3 lanes (albeit with heavy congestion, but at least it connects Northern Vancouver with the CBD - not just commuter and cabin towns), so I think it could handle 16,000-20,000 AADT easily. Zipper lanes could have been implemented if necessary.

[Mdcastle]

Well, I drove through Willits. Traffic wasn't bad (nor was it bad driving through San Francisco, as the US 101 and CA 1 corridors, which are for through traffic since there are no freeways, are three lanes in each direction with most left turns prohibited). But I was driving northbound on a weekday morning. Plenty of earthmoving is going on but no work on the structures yet. I also had the pleasure of driving over a 6 billion dollar bridge, the new East Span of the Bay Bridge, three times (and the Golden Gate and San Mateo Bridges each once). Bay area drivers seem to be assertive but polite.

As for the three lanes on the St. Croix Crossing- that would certainly handle todays traffic. The problems are the single lane reverse direction was forecast to be congested at the end of the planning horizon, and if you built it where the "Sensible" crossing was proposed, you would need 4 lanes where MN 36 and MN 95 are doubled, which would cause massive disruption to the bluffs and parkland. I know everyone hear screams that traffic counts are actually going down, but I personally am not convinced that will hold true in coming decades if the economy improves or there's some revolution in battery technology, fuel cells / ethanol production that makes driving cheaper again.

[mattaudio]

Interesting conclusion from that forecast, since vehicle miles traveled is decreasing.

[RailBaronYarr]

^And more telling, were on the decline for 2 years before the economy went south.

[web]

Willits on Summer weekends or more precisely pre labor day......is horrible I forget which direction...one direction is one lane and the other 2 lane but it crawls......true its the first signals on that highway since the the golden gate area um 140 or so miles away!

But great you had no issues!

[Mdcastle]

I'm not going to debate the merits of the project any more since I don't have any new points to make, but in case anyone's interested I do visit the site every month or two and take pictures. Some I post on a pro-roads forum I frequent, some I just leave on Flickr and some I don't bother to upload anywhere, but in case anyone here is interested here's some recent ones:

New Highway 95

IMG_4077 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

Foundations being built

IMG_4073 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

The St. Croix Scenic Overlook, aka "Joint Point"

IMG_4076 by North Star Highways, on Flickr
Mn/DOT had to pay to restore it as part of the mitigation, but it's time the city of Stillwater took it as a local park The trunk highway hasn't gone by here in 50 years, and access is going to get more difficult in both directions with the closure of Lookout Dr. at MN 95 and the removal of the Beach Road ramps.

The new and old Beach Road Bridges.

IMG_4065 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

The new MN 36 mainline.

IMG_4067 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

Where MN 95 and MN 36 meet now, looking south at the MN95 mainline with MN 36 off to the right.

IMG_4060 by North Star Highways, on Flickr

PDF from the official site diagraming the status of the foundation:
http://www.dot.state.mn.us/stcroixcross ... aisson.pdf

[Tcmetro]

As much as I dislike freeways, I feel MnDot is planning this wrong. Why are they building a freeway connection to Wisconsin, but just a few years ago decided to not remove the few lights that remain on 36 in Stillwater? Seriously, there will be a 169-494-esque project in 20 years because they aren't doing this now.

[Mdcastle]

I also predict the exact same thing will happen, and what's happening now is happening for the exact same reason: local input/ interference in a regional highway project. Eden Prairie didn't want to make it too easy for traffic to bypass them and get over the river, and similarly Oak Park Heights objected to a freeway design, mainly because it would take a number of businesses. Also when the cost ballooned due to delays, litigation and design changes cost was a factor too.

I doubt it's still available anywhere but the Mn/DOT library and I don't think I have a copy, but he mid 1990s concept included getting rid of the lights in favor of buttonhook interchanges. Also, the light on Lake Elmo Ave was supposed to be temporary (and is clearly built to temporary standards) but discussions about removing it have gone no where.

[Mdcastle]

The most notable apparent low bid has come in: $380 million for the main structure itself to Ames/Lunda. In what the usual MN/DOT fashion of awarding contracts to anything but the actual lowest dollar amount, the amount of construction time has been given a dollar amount and added into the bids. The actual dollar amount won't be disclosed until it's signed.

I drove out their last weekend to check out the construction. Some selections from my Flickr set.

IMG_4204 by North Star Highways, on Flickr
Starting tree removal and grading on the Wisconsin shore.


IMG_4261 by North Star Highways, on Flickr
Where MN 36 now meets MN 95, this is the future eastbound exit that's temporarily carries all the traffic. The notch in the center of the treeline in the distance is where the new bridge will meet the Wisconsin shore.


IMG_4254 by North Star Highways, on Flickr
The new eastbound mainline under the new Beach Road bridge.


IMG_4274 by North Star Highways, on Flickr
Pier construction.

From the web site: status of the pier construction