Conditions in Duluth–Superior

[Scott5114]

I understand there was some flooding in the Duluth area recently. Are the major routes passable yet? I will be there at the beginning of August. The plan right now is to come in from the east and pick up I-535 from Superior, to I-35. I'm sure I-35 is all right but I'm concerned about making the connection in Superior. Do I have anything to worry about?

[Biddco]

I  went to college in Duluth, your roads should be fine. the only streets that have major damage are sidestreets in Duluth.

[oscar]

I drove through there on July 1, on I-35 and MN 61 to the Canadian border.  No problems on that route, and the other major roads seemed to be open.  But there were a lot of closures of side roads and secondary routes, including part of MN 23 (which I had planned to take as a "shun-pike" alternative to I-35, which I'd covered before). 

[Mdcastle]

I-535 northbound is closed until "mid-summer" due to an unrelated construction project. You might want to check on that as the date gets closer.

[AsphaltPlanet]

I have no local knowledge of Duluth, but it's definitely a city I'd like to check out. The tunnel segments along the north end of the 35 freeway look awesome. @oscar, once you hit Ontario did you happen to have a look at the new alignment of 11/17 northeast of Thunder Bay?  I'd love to see some pics from the ground of that. Thunder bay had some serious flooding issues earlier this year much like Duluth. The busiest section of the Thunder Bay Expressway was actually washed out for a week or two as a result.

[texaskdog]

The tunnels on 35 arent that long or significant, but check out the 2 north of Two Harbors near Silver Cliff.  I remember the old alignments back in the 70s on the cliff, too.

[triplemultiplex]

Duluth has a nice downtown area along with the Canal Park/waterfront area.  There is a good collection of bars and restaurants it's very pedestrian friendly.  You should definitely take a walk through one of the parks that sit atop the I-35 tunnels and see how well the freeway is hidden away.  Great views of the world's largest inland harbor abound if you drive any stretch of the Skyline Parkway.
Duluth stands in sharp contrast to Superior, where downtown is full of dive bars and many buildings are in need of some more upkeep.  They're both rust belt cities, but Superior is a hell of a lot "rustier."

Duluth is great, though.  If I ever become emperor of the world, Duluth will be my capital.

[on_wisconsin]

They're both rust belt cities, but Superior is a hell of a lot "rustier."

Hell, Superior was a eastern MI style rust hole back in the mid-1990's as well. The city could at least attempt to fix its image a bit, like Duluth did back in the late 80's and 90's. (canal park, the ship and railroad museums, lake walk etc)

[oscar]

@oscar, once you hit Ontario did you happen to have a look at the new alignment of 11/17 northeast of Thunder Bay?  I'd love to see some pics from the ground of that.

I did check out that part of 11/17.  Part has already been twinned on what looked like the "old" alignment (not the really old alignment hugging TB's rather unglamourous, industrial-grade shoreline).  Two segments were being graded on new alignments. 

I took some photos, including a few from the Terry Fox memorial rest area.  I'll try to dig them out and post them under "Canada".  Since my time and internet access is limited at the moment (I'm in Yellowknife right now, weaving my way west toward Alaska), you might send me an e-mail or PM to nudge me if I don't follow up in a few days.