The updated mobile Twin Cities Bike Map is now available. Updates include the recently opened Cedar Ave Bridge, a new bike bridge over I-494 near Shady Oak Lake, new trails along Lexington Ave in Eagan and along the Mississippi River in NE Minneapolis plus numerous smaller changes.
The old Cedar Avenue Bridge is open! These photos are courtesy of Doug Stevens who was at the bridge this afternoon. He reports that the construction crews were rolling up the chain link fence and allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to cross.
Officially, the bridge will open sometime in mid-October, but with a couple of caveats. The bridge will not be plowed or salted this winter in order to allow the concrete to properly cure. The bridge will also close for an unspecified period next year because of construction of the Visitor’s Center and surrounding area.
The bridge closed around the year 2000 because the structure had deteriorated to the point where engineers could poke holes in the I-beams supporting the bridge deck with a pen. During the next decade and a half, it sat unused as 5 different government agencies debated who would own the bridge, whether it should be demolished and replaced with a new pedestrian bridge, who would pay for all of the work, etc.
That’s all been resolved now and we finally have another option for crossing the river. The bridge will also be very popular with bird watchers, pedestrians and fishermen and fisherwomen.