The Wakota Bridge is a ten-lane bridge carrying Interstate 494 over the Mississippi River between South St. Paul and Newport , Minnesota , United States. It was completed in 2010, replacing a four-lane span built in 1959. The name was given to the previous span in the early 1960s, and is derived from the two counties it connects, Washington and Dakota . Lunda Construction Company won the bid to build a new five-lane west-bound span, remove the existing bridge, and build a new five-lane east-bound span, which was completed in 2010. It is the widest bridge in Minnesota in number of lanes, along with the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis .
27-559: With two lanes in each direction, the old bridge was originally designed as a part of the Minnesota State Highway 100 beltway around the Twin Cities , and did not meet interstate highway standards. The lack of a third lane in each direction or shoulders on the bridge, as well as a lack of acceleration lanes from entrances on either side of the bridge, created traffic bottlenecks exacerbated by heavy truck traffic on
54-790: A freeway for its entire length. The section between MN 7 and I-394 in St. Louis Park, the oldest part of the freeway, was reconstructed into a 6-lane freeway, completed in Nov. 2016. MN 100 is now 6 lanes from just north of the I-494 interchange in Edina, to the interchange at Bottineau Boulevard (County Road 81) in Robbinsdale. As part of these projects, 2 of the original 3 cloverleaf intersections were replaced. The cloverleaf at MN 55 in Golden Valley
81-528: A million dollars over what their original offer was to Mn/DOT. On July 1, 2010, the eastbound span of the new Wakota Bridge opened. All five lanes are open on each bridge. The previous bridge at this location was the first of only three major tied-arch bridges to be constructed in Minnesota (the others were Cedar Avenue Bridge and the Bong Bridge , both built in the early 1980s.) The old Wakota Bridge
108-523: Is 16 miles (26 km) in length. MN 100 serves as a north–south arterial route in the western suburbs of the Twin Cities. The roadway serves the communities of Bloomington, Edina , St. Louis Park , Golden Valley , Crystal , Robbinsdale and Brooklyn Center. MN 100 is constructed to freeway standards. The route is located in Hennepin County . The route was authorized in 1934. MN 100
135-685: Is a state highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota , which runs from its interchange with Interstate 494 (I-494) in Bloomington and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with I-694 in Brooklyn Center . The southern end of MN 100 continues in Bloomington as Normandale Boulevard ( County Road 34 , CR 34). At the north end, the main line of MN 100 merges with I-694 in Brooklyn Center. The route
162-576: Is no longer possible to directly follow the path of old MN 100. Small detours are necessary which involve the use of exits 40 and 60 of the present I-494/I-694 beltway. The original construction of MN 100 started in 1935, as a New Deal project. The project was a cooperative venture between the Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the Minnesota Highway Department, and was the largest WPA project in
189-528: Is now County Rd 96 in Vadnais Heights and Shoreview ). Old MN 100 then turned south briefly along U.S. Highway 8 (US 8, now a city maintained street in New Brighton ), then old MN 100 carried on westward along the current routing of I-694 through New Brighton and Fridley to meet back at its present-day northern terminus at Brooklyn Center . Due to traffic pattern changes over the years, it
216-832: The Mendota Bridge , then along current MN 62 through Mendota Heights , then MN 100 went on Southview Boulevard into South St. Paul . Then old MN 100 followed Grand Avenue downhill, until it met old MN 56 on Concord Street . Then old MN 100 followed south on Concord Street into Inver Grove Heights , then east over the railroad bridge into Newport ; and then turning north onto Century Avenue in Woodbury , which feeds into current MN 120 north of I-94 in Maplewood / Oakdale . Old MN 100 then turned west upon County Road F and north along White Bear Avenue to meet up with and concurrent westward with old MN 96 (the section of which
243-428: The St. Louis Park Roadside Park (near the southeast corner of MN 100 and MN 7) are the only remaining roadside parks from the 1930s that are still mostly intact after widening of MN 100. The beltline was not completed until 1950. At that point, demand from the baby boom led to rapid growth in the suburbs. In 2009, restoration of the St. Louis Park Roadside Park was completed and the park renamed Lilac Park. As part of
270-541: The WPA project. The western leg was completed in 1940, but further construction on the beltway was halted with the United States' entry into World War II . An extension from then-US 52 (now CR 81) in Robbinsdale to US 10 (near present-day I-35W ) in New Brighton was built with federal aid to provide access to industrial areas as an asset to the manufacture of "essential war materials". Graeser Park in Robbinsdale and
297-409: The construction of the highway. Since the WPA was designed to keep a large number of workers busy, a lot of hand digging was done as opposed to using bulldozers. Cloverleaf interchanges were built at MN 7 , US 12 (now I-394 and US 12) and MN 55 (Olson Highway). The landscaping of the highway was meant to give the highway a parkway-like experience. As such, it was built with a wider right-of-way than
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#1732780197141324-406: The expected 100-year effective life of the bridge by allowing salt and water to seep in. Investigation revealed that at the time the bridge was designed, there were no published standards for how much load the concrete components could support. Assumptions were made that turned out to be incorrect. The existing bridge was retrofitted by adding post-tensioned steel cables to transfer more of the load to
351-401: The new eastbound span, due to disagreements between the company and Mn/DOT about delays and cost overruns due to poor design and construction quality. Mn/DOT announced the eastbound span would be repackaged and rebid, and it was ultimately awarded back to Lunda Construction. The bid for the eastbound bridge was let on January 25, 2008. The winner was Lunda Construction, with a bid in excess of
378-418: The piers. The design firm took responsibility for the $ 14.8 million cost to fix the problem and redesigned the future eastbound span. The new westbound span bridge was finished and opened to two-way traffic in the summer of 2006. Originally there were 3 eastbound lanes (to allow traffic room to decelerate for a 20 mph (32 km/h) curve on an exit ramp) and two westbound lanes, but due to traffic backups it
405-425: The project included rebuilding and converting to freeway a section of US Highway 10 / US Highway 61 , and rebuilding a section of Interstate 494 . Construction began in 2003. The discovery of hairline fractures by a third-party inspector in mid-2005 delayed the west-bound span's opening by a year. The fractures were not believed to be a safety hazard, however it was thought that the degraded quality would diminish
432-489: The ramps leading to the bridge. Traffic was so bad that there was a market for an alternative, the toll Rock Island Swing Bridge a few miles to the south. Planning for a new structure began in the early 1990s. In 1994, the Minnesota Legislature passed a law mandating that toll financing be considered for projects above $ 10 million, and July 1995 solicited proposals for privately financed toll facilities. There
459-450: The remaining portion of St. Louis Park Roadside Park, which was then renamed Lilac Park. In October of 2020, Hwy. 100's speed limit was increased to 60 miles per hour (100 km/h) for its entire length. It was originally 55 miles per hour (88 km/h) south of County Road 81 in Robbinsdale to its terminus in Bloomington. The entire route is in Hennepin County . Minnesota State Highway 7 Too Many Requests If you report this error to
486-470: The restoration project, a beehive fireplace from the old Lilac Park to the north was transferred and restored. A new bicycle/walkway path constructed within the park connects the park to the Southwest LRT Trail . Conversion of the remaining portion of the road into a freeway is complete. In 2004, construction was finished on the northern portion of MN 100 between I-394 and I-694, making MN 100
513-475: The state. The demand for the highway came out of growing pains in the Twin Cities during the 1920s, when Minneapolis city streets were congested and suburban roads were poorly maintained dirt roads. The plan for a beltway around the Twin Cities incorporated existing roads, both paved and unpaved. A new section of highway, between MN 5 (now I-494 and MN 5) in Edina and then- US 52 (now CR 81 ) in Robbinsdale
540-527: The typical highway. The Golden Valley Garden Club supported efforts to plant lilacs along the highway and the Minneapolis Journal coined the name "Lilac Way". Eventually, 7,000 lilacs were planted. In addition, the builders built five wayside parks along the way. These parks were intended for picnicking and featured stone picnic tables, beehive barbecues, waterfalls and so on. These fixtures provided work for local stonemasons, as another part of
567-534: Was built using material fabricated by the United States Steel Corporation as one of the first segments of Interstate 494 by Ashbach Construction. Overseen by the company's General Superintendent Frank Kath, the bridge was constructed with one of the first known vibrating concrete slip forms built by him (during the paving of Highway 1 from Tower to Ely , MN) and used to construct a multitude of bridges throughout Minnesota. The bridge
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#1732780197141594-459: Was changed and rebuilt in 2004 as a signalized single-point urban interchange (SPUI). The cloverleaf at MN 7/CR 25 was replaced with a folded diamond interchange . The remaining cloverleaf is at the I-394 interchange. The original Lilac Park in St. Louis Park was also lost to this construction. Several of the park's WPA-built stone picnic tables and a beehive fireplace were saved and relocated to
621-484: Was dismantled in the fall of 2006 in order to make way for the future eastbound bridge. Temporary piers were built, then the old bridge was cut into manageable pieces which were lowered to waiting barges and hauled away. Minnesota State Highway 100 [REDACTED] [REDACTED] MN 7 / CSAH 25 at St. Louis Park [REDACTED] I-394 at Golden Valley [REDACTED] MN 55 at Golden Valley Minnesota State Highway 100 ( MN 100 )
648-422: Was general lack of enthusiasm among the municipalities for getting stuck with a toll bridge just to get the project done a few years earlier, and ultimately Mn/DOT chose the Minnesota State Highway 312 project to consider as a toll facility instead. The original plans were to build a pair of four lane bridges, but a fifth lane in each direction was added early in the design process. Besides the actual Wakota Bridge,
675-417: Was needed to complete the beltway. As such, it was planned as a state-of-the-art highway, with two lanes in each direction separated by wide medians, bridges at major intersections and railroad crossings, and the first cloverleaf interchanges in Minnesota. Carl Graeser, the highway engineer and Arthur R. Nichols , a landscape architect, teamed up to design the highway. A large number of WPA workers worked on
702-634: Was originally meant as a beltway around the Twin Cities (presumably the reason for the round number) and actually achieved that status for about 20 years in the mid-20th century (although it wasn't a full freeway). All of the current MN 100 was also in the original route. Starting from the current southern terminus, Old MN 100 was concurrent eastward with a pre-I-494 MN 5 past the Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport to its intersection with MN 55 . Old MN 100 then continued east concurrent with MN 55 over
729-492: Was soon modified to add a third westbound lane. With all traffic using the new bridge, the demolition of the old Wakota bridge could begin as at the end of the barge shipping season. Meanwhile, negotiations began with the contractor about costs and scheduling related to the changes to the future eastbound span. On December 29, 2006 the Lunda Construction Company was discharged from its contract to complete
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