Kim Mensinger has sent in some nice photos of a couple of  the historic bridges on the Cannon Bottom Road, just west of Red Wing, which was bypassed in 1931 (it was once part of U.S. 61 and Constitutional Route 3). These bridges are scheduled to be demolished in the next few years. For more info on this historic highway, see the article here (from my U.S. 61 project, pops in a new window/tab).
Update – 8/1/2009 – It turns out this information is false, Highway 16 is still signed between La Crescent and the Wisconsin State Line.
It has come to my attention that State Highway 16 has been truncated at its junction with U.S. 61 and U.S. 14 in La Crescent. It had previously duplexed with these two routes to the Wisconsin State Line, continuing as Wisconsin State Highway 16 into La Crosse. The state routes on either side of the border were created in the wake of the retirement of U.S. 16 back around 1979.
Have any readers from from the La Crescent/La Crosse area noticed this change? I assume it occurred as part of the recent reconstruction of the junction. For comparative purposes, see the pictures from 2006 and from 2007 .
MnDOT has released images of the three proposed designs for the replacement of the U.S. 61 bridge over the Mississippi River at Hastings. These include a single tied arch (similar in appearance to the old bridge), a dual box girder crossing (like the new 35W bridge in Minneapolis), and a single cable bridge. Although I like the idea of the tied arch to maintain the appearance of the crossing, I think the dual box girder design makes more sense in terms of cost and logistics. I wouldn’t even consider the cable bridge, as I really hate how it looks, especially in the context of Hastings’ historic downtown.
Anyone else have thoughts on this?
Comments? Corrections? Questions?: Email Me At: andrew@deadpioneer.com
All content © Andrew Munsch