The new 35W bridge. (Lexington, Franklin: neighborhood, university, tax)

[asitshouldbe]

I won't be driving on the outside lane, thats for sure.

[JenLee]

I must admit that I was messed up by the lanes going both East and West. They aren't the same, so I missed the I-94 exit going west; and I had to get out of the 4th St. second exit lane going East at the last minute because I wasn't trying to turn off onto 4th St there.

So it's important to watch the signage to be in the right lanes!

[Slig]

I've been over it. It's a good bridge. It should immensely improve traffic flow downtown, especially after sporting events, etc.

[Ben Around]

The old bridge, I'd drive across and not even know I was crossing one of the major rivers in N. America. You just couldn't see it, and there was no superstructure, so it was just like the rest of the freeway.

After all the fuss about design, I had high expectations about the new bridge in this regard, but I drove across it Saturday, and it was jus like the old bridge (only wider)! No river view whatsoever. Just those cheesey sculptures that symbolize the river.

From down below, the new bridge looks great, much better than the old one, but it seems to me you should be able to catch a glipse of ol man river while driving across it (like the 35E crossing, the Lake St Bridge, the Ford Bridge, the Wabasha Bridge, the Smith Ave Bridge, the I-80 crossing at Rock Island/Davenport, the US 18 crossing at McGregor/Prairie du Chein, the MLK bridge in St Louis, etc., etc.

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

After all the fuss about design, I had high expectations about the new bridge in this regard, but I drove across it Saturday, and it was jus like the old bridge (only wider)! No river view whatsoever. Just those cheesey sculptures that symbolize the river.

Yeah, I'm sure what people commuting to work every day on 35W most want is joyriders slowing down in the fast line to catch a view of the river. The bridge does what its supposed to do. It safely crosses the freeway over the river and doesn't mess with views so drivers can safely maintain high speeds and get where they want to go. Lets not fuss over how pretty the view is. If you want a pretty view walk across the Stone Arch.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

The old bridge, I'd drive across and not even know I was crossing one of the major rivers in N. America. You just couldn't see it, and there was no superstructure, so it was just like the rest of the freeway.

After all the fuss about design, I had high expectations about the new bridge in this regard, but I drove across it Saturday, and it was jus like the old bridge (only wider)! No river view whatsoever. Just those cheesey sculptures that symbolize the river.

From down below, the new bridge looks great, much better than the old one, but it seems to me you should be able to catch a glipse of ol man river while driving across it (like the 35E crossing, the Lake St Bridge, the Ford Bridge, the Wabasha Bridge, the Smith Ave Bridge, the I-80 crossing at Rock Island/Davenport, the US 18 crossing at McGregor/Prairie du Chein, the MLK bridge in St Louis, etc., etc.

Comming in from the North you get a pretty good view of the stone arch. Mostly I agree with slig though. Main purpose is to cross the river in a safe and expedidous way. If you want to know you are crossing a bridge, go to Astoria and cross the columbia.

[Haver]

Not trying to pile on here, but there's enough craziness on that stretch of road, that I don't want anyone getting distracted. The wavy lines at each end are good enough - you know you're crossing and they're centerlined enough so you're not losing track of the guy in front of and behind you.

[Ben Around]

Yes, of course its purpose is to bring traffic across the river and it does that quite well. But my point is that all the hype and public proclamations of what a great aesthetic design the new bridge would have just never materialized. It has all the drama of the Hwy 36 bridge over Snelling Avenue, the Franklin Avenue bridge over 280, the Lexington Parkway Bridge over 94, and hundreds of other boring bridges here in the TC and coast to coast. Hell, the bike bridge over Hiawatha Avenue has a more impressive design!

PS: Do you think people get "distracted" on the Golden Gate Bridge or the Brooklyn Bridge? Do you guys care about aesthetics at all, or must all public projects display Soviet-style functionality?.

[Jeanie Hoholik]

Did I miss the ribbon cutting?

[Slig]

Originally Posted by Ben Around

Do you guys care about aesthetics at all, or must all public projects display Soviet-style functionality?.

I personally think there's a time and a place for "pretty". Functionality was definitely the priority with this project after the last bridge resulted in a collapse with 13 deaths and hundreds of injuries.

The main goals of the project were timliness and a final product that was strong and reliable. Time will tell if it is successful but from what I've seen and heard, it looks pretty good.