The mystery of the Bloomfield Bridge [over I-494; and other MSP history]

[kurumi]

https://tylervigen.com/the-mystery-of-the-bloomfield-bridge

Why is this bridge here?

This pedestrian bridge crosses I-494 just west of the Minneapolis Airport. It connects Bloomington to Richfield. I drive under it often and I wondered: why is it there? It's not in an area that is particularly walkable, and it doesn't connect any establishments that obviously need to be connected. So why was it built?

Tyler Vigen gets to the bottom of the reason for this bridge, and shows his research along the way. There's some proper roadgeeking along with other deep dives into area history.

Also: pointers to other road resources:

OTHER MINNESOTA INTERSTATE RESEARCH AND HISTORY PROJECTS

If you do enough searching about the construction of pedestrian bridges over interstates in Minnesota,Note you will eventually come upon these three sources:

    Politics and Freeways: Building the Twin Cities Interstate System by Patricia Cavanaugh, which shares a detailed 136-page account of the politics and decisions for building the interstates in Minnesota
    Streets.mn, an unofficial but helpful (and opinionatedNote) site that provides various histories and insights into road-building in Minnesota
    A public history of 35W, which details the human toll building the interstates took on local communities–particularly black communities near Minneapolis and St. Paul, which were uprooted to make way for the interstates

The three sources are valuable in their own ways, but they all gloss over the construction of Interstate 494. Compared to its peers, this section of the interstate was uncontroversial, simple to acquire,Note and among the fastest to plan and build.

However, all three sources frequently mention one key planning report from the time: a report written by George Barton titled "Freeways in Minneapolis" published in 1957.

[The Ghostbuster]

Here is the pedestrian bridge on Google Maps: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Minneapolis,+MN/@44.8618838,-93.2749157,191m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m6!3m5!1s0x52b333909377bbbd:0x939fc9842f7aee07!8m2!3d44.977753!4d-93.2650108!16zL20vMGZwendm?entry=ttu. Not much to write home about. Also, don't try looking up this bridge on Wikipedia, or you'll get an article about a bridge with the same name in the Pittsburgh area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloomfield_Bridge.

[TheHighwayMan3561]

tl;dr (though you should read this epic piece): A church located on the north side of I-494 most likely was the entity that pushed for its construction.

Since I never really found myself in much position to use this, or any of the pedestrian bridges around MSP very often, I never considered the usefulness of any particular one. Even this one didn't come off as that peculiar to me given Bloomington has sprawled around it somewhat.

This one in Duluth though I have wondered about, since the south side is in the dirty industry section of town along Railroad Street where there doesn't seem to be much of interest for pedestrians or bikers. I suppose maybe people in the Lincoln Park/Central Hillside neighborhoods walking to work.

[Rothman]

tl;dr (though you should read this epic piece): A church located on the north side of I-494 most likely was the entity that pushed for its construction.

Since I never really found myself in much position to use this, or any of the pedestrian bridges around MSP very often, I never considered the usefulness of any particular one. Even this one didn't come off as that peculiar to me given Bloomington has sprawled around it somewhat.

This one in Duluth though I have wondered about, since the south side is in the dirty industry section of town along Railroad Street where there doesn't seem to be much of interest for pedestrians or bikers. I suppose maybe people in the Lincoln Park/Central Hillside neighborhoods walking to work.

Bayfront.  Isn't that where the Mighty Thompson or whatever it is called is held?

[rte66man]

tl;dr (though you should read this epic piece): A church located on the north side of I-494 most likely was the entity that pushed for its construction.

Since I never really found myself in much position to use this, or any of the pedestrian bridges around MSP very often, I never considered the usefulness of any particular one. Even this one didn't come off as that peculiar to me given Bloomington has sprawled around it somewhat.

This one in Duluth though I have wondered about, since the south side is in the dirty industry section of town along Railroad Street where there doesn't seem to be much of interest for pedestrians or bikers. I suppose maybe people in the Lincoln Park/Central Hillside neighborhoods walking to work.

It is part of the Superior Hiking Trail.
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.7755007,-92.1102382,457m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

[The Ghostbuster]

That's right by Interstate 35's original northern terminus. Does anyone know when this was constructed? Was it before or after the 1987-1992 extensions of Interstate 35 to London Rd./S. 26th Ave. E.?

[TheHighwayMan3561]

That's right by Interstate 35's original northern terminus. Does anyone know when this was constructed? Was it before or after the 1987-1992 extensions of Interstate 35 to London Rd./S. 26th Ave. E.?

According to this article detailing an upcoming rehab project, it was built in 1968 (which would also predate the SHT by roughly 20 years).

https://www.wdio.com/front-page/top-stories/help-mndot-re-design-the-pedestrian-bridge-over-i-35-and-mesaba-avenue/

[The Ghostbuster]

Maybe they should redesign it similar to the pedestrian overpasses that have been built in the Madison area. Example: https://www.google.com/maps/@43.1041378,-89.3419516,3a,75y,43.41h,87.93t/data=!3m7!1e1!3m5!1sCw09xgCkNkomdLjP82NuwA!2e0!6shttps:%2F%2Fstreetviewpixels-pa.googleapis.com%2Fv1%2Fthumbnail%3Fpanoid%3DCw09xgCkNkomdLjP82NuwA%26cb_client%3Dmaps_sv.tactile.gps%26w%3D203%26h%3D100%26yaw%3D124.716%26pitch%3D0%26thumbfov%3D100!7i16384!8i8192?entry=ttu.