The 115-year old Hwy 65 Bridge crossing the Little Fork River in District 1 will undergo structural repairs beginning Aug. 1. The wood-decked bridge was built in 1890 in Sauk Centre and transported to its current location in 1937. Photo by John Bray

On Aug. 1, Mn/DOT will temporarily close one of the oldest bridges in the state for structural repairs. That bridge is the 115-year old Hwy 65 Bridge crossing the Little Fork River, near the Koochiching County community of Silverdale.

Mn/DOT District 1 staff expects the work to be completed around Aug. 11.

The Silverdale Bridge is one of more than 50 listed on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the Minnesota History Center Web site, and is officially called Bridge No. 5721. Two of the more notable bridges on the list are the Aerial Lift Bridge in the Duluth Harbor and the Stillwater Lift Bridge that crosses the St. Croix in downtown Stillwater. However, most of the bridges are on township roads and don’t carry much traffic.  

This wood-decked bridge was built in 1890 in Sauk Centre. Around 1937, this 378-foot-long wrought iron bridge was disassembled, transported and re-established at its current location to allow Hwy 65 to cross the Little Fork River in a remote wilderness area.

The average daily traffic count on Hwy 65 in that area is between 50 and 60 vehicles a day. The bridge will be closed during normal working hours, with special accommodations being made for emergency vehicle traffic. The bridge will reopen for traffic after working hours each day.

In 2006 Mn/DOT plans to replace this aged and brittle bridge and realign this section of Hwy 65 with a $4.2 million transportation improvement investment. However, that won’t signal the end of Bridge No. 5721. Mn/DOT is working with local interests who might have a home for the old structure.

History and bridge fans can find more information on old Minnesota bridges at this Minnesota Historical Society Web site, which lists the bridges by location as well as by type.  

By Kevin Gutknecht and John Bray, District 1 special assistant to the district engineer

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It took longer than expected, but several positive outcomes for transportation came out of the 2005 legislative session, according to Bob McFarlin, assistant to the commissioner for transportation policy.

The largest success was getting a constitutional amendment on the November 2006 ballot that dedicates 100 percent of the motor vehicle sales tax revenues to transportation. It would provide $2.6 billion through 2017 in new dedicated funding for highways, local roads and Twin Cities metro area and Greater Minnesota transit systems, according to McFarlin.

If approved, this amendment will provide the state’s first constitutionally dedicated source of funding for transit systems throughout the state, and will mark the first time the state’s basic transportation funding structure has been altered since the 1950s, he said.

Another success was the capital investment bill that provides about $100 million to support the Northstar commuter rail, local roads and bridges, and the Cedar Avenue (Hwy 77) bus rapid transit project in the Twin Cities metro area.

“The session was not without its challenges,” said McFarlin. “A partial government shutdown coupled with a long special session was difficult for Mn/DOT employees and the state’s citizens.

“Additionally the governor properly vetoed an ill-advised plan that would have increased the state gas tax by 10 cents per gallon and increased state vehicle registration taxes, while actually reducing funding for highways, local roads and transit during the next two years.”

Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau added, “We have made significant progress, but much remains to be done. We will continue our efforts to find a reasonable and responsible approach to funding our transportation needs; we will continue to pursue innovation and new ways of thinking; and we will continue to focus on the priority of finding ways to get critical improvement projects done quickly.”

A number of transportation-related policies were also enacted, including:

• Administrative increase for the county state aid highway fund. Mn/DOT’s administrative set-aside in the county state aid highway fund has increased from 1.5 percent of total CSAH dollars to 2 percent. This will increase the county state aid administration budget from $5.5 million to $7.4 million per year.

• Railroad quiet zones. The Federal Railroad Administration has issued new rules pre-empting Minnesota statutes regarding railroad quiet zones. Any community may apply for quiet zone status, but the FRA has jurisdiction in determining whether a quiet zone waiver will be granted. A community with a pre-existing whistle ban must apply to FRA to continue that ban. There are approximately 600 crossings in Minnesota with whistle bans.   

• Railroad grade crossing safety account. A railroad grade crossing safety account has been created to separate rail safety improvement funds, which come from State Patrol fines, from trunk highway funds to avoid any constitutional conflicts.  

• Sign revolving account. A revolving fund has been created for the state sign shop similar to the pavement striping account created in 2001. Proceeds from sign sales currently are deposited in the trunk highway fund. The change will better enable the state sign shop to plan for future material and equipment purchases.

• Bradley Waage “Brainerd Brad” Memorial Bridge. The Legislature designated the District 3 bridge on Hwy 6 over Roosevelt Lake near Outing, Minn., as the Bradley Waage “Brainerd Brad” Memorial Bridge. Waage was a District 3 road construction inspector who died in 2001. See the District 3 employee newsletter (July 2005), to be published soon, for a feature about Waage.

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Lt. Gov./Commissioner Carol Molnau continues to urge Minnesota's congressional delegation to act on a new, long-term federal transportation funding and policy act.

In a letter sent July 22 to the delegation, she wrote that the lack of a reauthorization bill and the piecemeal fashion in which funding has been distributed to states under the short-term extensions have led to numerous problems and project delays across the country.

The latest extension of the transportation reauthorization bill is set to expire at midnight tonight, July 27.        

However, Brad Larsen, Mn/DOT's federal releations manager, said it is widely anticipated that the reauthorization bill will be passed by the end of this week.                 

For more information, read Mn/DOT Newsline (July 20, 2005).

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Pictured here is a vehicle stopped by a cable median barrier during a controlled test. In mid-July, KMSP-TV news ran a story about the effectiveness of the barriers now in place on some interstate stretches in the Metro District and District 3. Click here to view the full broadcast of the cable barriers. Video image courtesy of KMSP-TV

After spinning out of control on northbound Interstate 94 near St. Michael last winter, an SUV veered toward the median and the southbound path of a District 3 snowplow.

But instead of crossing the median and colliding with the plow, the SUV came to a gradual stop on its side of the freeway after being snagged by a barrier that uses high-tension steel cables to prevent median cross-over crashes.

“The plow operator said he was certain the SUV would have crashed into him were it not for the barrier,” said Gary Dirlam, District 3 traffic engineer.

Dirlam and John Hanzalik, supervisor at the Metro District’s Maple Grove truck station, don’t know the precise number of cross-over crashes the barriers avoided, but they do know more than 50 vehicles have hit the barriers located on I-94 and on a section of Hwy 23 between Cold Spring and St. Cloud since they were installed.

No fatalities occurred in those incidents, Hanzalik said.

The barriers are usually installed in highway sections that include entrance and exit ramps that lead to traffic weaving from lane to lane or a change in the number of lanes that can result in crashes or near-crashes than can send vehicles into median areas.

Their design enables the cables to flex when struck by a vehicle, absorbing much of a crash’s kinetic energy that slows the vehicle and keeps it from crossing the median or bouncing back into traffic.

In addition to their ability to lessen crash severity, the cable barriers cost much less than permanent, concrete barriers.

When a vehicle hits a section of cable barrier, maintenance crews can repair the damaged section quickly. The barriers are carried on steel posts that slide into concrete sleeves. If the barrier is damaged, the posts slide out easily to allow a new cable section to be installed.

Dirlam and Hanzalik are convinced of the barriers’ value and their ability to prevent of cross-over crashes that frequently result in life-changing injuries or deaths. So are Metro District managers who have approved adding 10 miles of cable barriers in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. Maintenance crews will install additional barrier sections on I-94 in Brooklyn Center, I-35W in Burnsville and on Hwy 169 and I-494 in Plymouth next year.

Cable barriers are now in use on I-94 at interchanges in Albertville and St. Michael by District 3 and between the I-94/694 and the I-494 interchange to the Crow River south of Rogers .

Cable median barrier along I-94 in Maple Grove was installed late spring 2004. File photo by David Gonzalez

Before Mn/DOT begins its second phase of cable installation, Dirlam and Hanzalik will join other transportation practitioners from the Upper Midwest in a FHWA-sponsored study tour to learn how other states such as Texas and Oklahoma have fared with their use.

When the installations’ second phase begins, the new barriers will have four strands of cable instead of three. Contractors will install an additional 10 miles of barriers on I-94 in Brooklyn Center, I-35W in Burnsville, Hwy 169 and I-494 in Plymouth

Nancy Yoo, a principal design engineer with the Metro District, said the four-cable design is capable of stopping an 18,000-pound, single-unit truck traveling at 50 miles per hour. That design meets test level 4 specifications compared with test level 3.

Test level 3 specifications require that cable barriers stop a 4,500-pound vehicle such as a pickup truck or SUV traveling at 62 mph.

Beverly Farraher, a Metro maintenance operations engineer, said the cable barriers have worked as designed.

“The barriers comprise a safety system that does what it’s supposed to do: prevent catastrophic, cross-median crashes. Our maintenance crews would rather repair damaged barrier sections than deal with the traffic tie-ups and other effects of a fatal crash,” she said.

By Craig Wilkins

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The newly enhanced 511 Traveler Information System Web site increases the ability of drivers to plan trips, stay informed about changing road and weather conditions and avoid traffic incidents or highway construction zones.

Commuters, vacationers and other travelers can now access more information from Mn/DOT’s recently enhanced 511 Traveler Information System Web site.

The site provides information on long-term construction projects; links to cities, counties and states that have Web sites, and lists community festivals, sports contests and other special events.

The new site also increases the ability of drivers to plan trips, stay informed about changing road and weather conditions and avoid traffic incidents or highway construction zones.

Visitors to the site can print instructions for using the 511 system that fold into a handy, pocket-sized reference guide.

The site was designed by staff from the Office of Communications.

And as before, site users can easily obtain transit schedules, incident reports, notices about construction-related detours or other traffic changes.

Travelers may also obtain road and weather conditions via telephone by dialing 5-1-1.

Since its creation in 2002, the 511 Web site has helped thousands of motorists reach their destinations or avoid delays when planning trips or while en route.

“These new tools are a great addition to help users get even more out of this already helpful service,” said Todd Kramascz, operations supervisor at the Regional Transportation Management Center in Roseville.

Kramascz adds that 19 states, the Tampa Bay metro area and northern California now offer 511 services. Additional states are expected to join the service, he said.

To use the 511 service, log on to www.511mn.org or dial 5-1-1.

By Craig Wilkins  

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