Ride Boldly!

Been pretty busy lately, but as the (first) thaw gets underway, there are goings on here in the tundra and elsewhere.

The Winona Bridge, about which I have written a billion times following its brief closure in Summer 2008, is now scheduled for ‘rehabilitation’ in 2014. Everyone gets to take their chances on this fracture-critical structure [...]

There are a few upcoming events of note to cyclists in Minnesota:

January 21 – Design open house for the Highway 52/Lafayette Bridge replacement project, t the Wellstone Center in St. Paul. More info: http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy52-stpaul/
January 25 – Surface Transportation Reauthorization Outreach Meeting with Secretary Ray LaHood and Congressman Jim Oberstar in Minneapolis. More info: http://www.bikeleague.org/programs/bikeadvocacy/minneapolis_mn_invite_01%2012%2010.pdf
February 25 [...]

The Met Council is looking at funding several trail projects in Anoka County – one to build a ‘missing link’ in the Rum River Trail corridor, and a second to build two canal-crossing bridges, from Anoka’s Mississippi Community Park nearly 2 miles up the river to the undeveloped Mississippi West Regional Park in Ramsey.
Meanwhile, Senators [...]

Following the closure of the Griggs Street bike/ped bridge over I94 in St. Paul, the city plans to close I94 this weekend to remove said bridge.
Per the Pi Press:

I-94 westbound between Lexington and Snelling will be closed midnight Friday – noon Saturday, including the entrance ramps.
I-94 eastbound will be closed between Snelling and Lexington avenues [...]

The bicycle-pedestrian bridge over I94 at Griggs Street in Saint Paul has been closed due to crumbling concrete.
The falling concrete ‘weakens the span.’ I wonder how many windshields on I94 can testify to that?
In the meantime, the suggested alternate crossings of I94 are at Lexington Avenue and Hamline Avenue. Neither is sunshine and rainbows on [...]

There is apparently controversy about the construction/repair of the bicycle/pedestrian crossing of MN43 across the river at Winona!
Apparently, MNDOT is using creosote-treated wood for the crossing. Exposure to creosote can cause irritation of the skin, and eating it is an especially bad plan.
MNDOT points out that it’s a river crossing, so metal is a [...]