Everything about the new St. Croix River bridge project will be big, from the price tag to extensive highway realignments in two states to four lanes of traffic towering over the water.
After decades of controversy that reached all the way to Congress, construction of the mammoth $676 million project begins in April with initial work on approach roads in Oak Park Heights.
"By mid-May there will be quite a bit of work on that corridor," said Jon Chiglo, Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) manager overseeing the project.
Heavy equipment and a flood of workers will appear, beginning four years of activity that will end an era dating to 1931, when the nearby Stillwater Lift Bridge opened. The project will transform the St. Croix Valley, diverting commuter traffic from Stillwater and creating a major highway through Oak Park Heights and eastward through lightly populated St. Joseph Township in St. Croix County, Wis.
"It's going to be part of a grander traffic management plan to allow a safer crossing on the St. Croix River," said Gary Kriesel, a Washington County commissioner representing Stillwater and Oak Park Heights.
Initial work will include clearing trees in a neighborhood that was abandoned in the 1990s to make room for the bridge approach. Rehabilitation will begin on a scenic overlook this spring, business frontage roads along Hwy. 36 in Oak Park Heights will be rebuilt and construction will begin this summer on five piers to support the bridge in the river.
Design of the bridge superstructure should be completed this summer, Chiglo said.
MnDOT also will open a construction office in Stillwater, a block north of the Greeley Street intersection with Hwy. 36. That office will be open to contractors and anyone else who has questions and concerns, Chiglo said.
