The Minneapolis Public Works Department has posted a detour for the St. Anthony Parkway Bridge in northeast Minneapolis after announcing on Friday that it is closing the bridge until it is replaced.
The new route will follow NE Marshall Street, Lowry Avenue NE, and University Avenue NE for eastbound traffic, and those streets in reverse order for westbound traffic.
That 2.5-mile detour will be in place for more than two years because the city doesn't expect to start its long-planned $30 million replacement of the bridge until 2015, and won't complete it until late 2016. The city said that the bridge carries about 4,200 vehicles daily over the Northtown rail yard.
The 89-year-old bridge carries the lowest bridge rating in Hennepin County and is fracture-critical. That means there is a lack of redundancy in its design such that if a key component failed, the bridge would be in danger of collapse.
The city said that it is closing the bridge because some vehicles were not heeding the three-ton load limit it posted. The city announcement said that the bridge might be reopened to pedestrians and bikers in the coming weeks.
