Unofficial reminders of the bridge
Posted on July 8th, 2009 – 11:01 AMBy Roadguy
These days, the old 35W bridge is mostly discussed in the context of litigation, such as in this story from the weekend papers. But other reminders are still around — this past weekend in the Eat Street area, I saw this on a parked car:
Two days later, in a Target parking lot, I walked past a woman wearing one of the commemorative T-shirts:
And last month, I came across this tow truck from Bobby and Steve’s Autoworld:
Work on the permanent memorial to the bridge collapse has not yet begun (a Minnesota Public Radio update on the slow progress is here), but we’ve got bumper stickers, T-shirts, and truck hoods to remind us. Interesting times — share your thoughts below.
15 Responses to "Unofficial reminders of the bridge"
Check out the various views of the bridge on Google Earth “street-view” camera shots and Bing.com “birds-eye” angles. The old bridge is still shown in some of the shots. Very sad and scary to see it standing, or to see its arch’s reflection in the water…
Of course, the biggest eyesore remaining is the pile of debris still littering the river flats near the UofMN’s West Bank campus.
Referring to what JF said, using Google Street View on the northbound side of the bridge shows the old bridge in the photos, whereas using it on the southbound lanes shows the new bridge. Creepy, if you ask me.
Why do these people need to be memorialized? They did nothing to deserve to be honored. People die on roads every day without memorials. I think we could find better things to do with $1,000,000.
JB i’ve got to agree with you. it sucked and it was sad, but the bridge was built before Hummers hit the road- it’s not like someone cut corners knowing it would come down some day and laughed all the way to the bank, it just wasn’t built to withstand what it had to go through because no one could see into the future. million-dollar settlements for this accident, tragic though it was, are completely out of line (for 90% of those who are seeking them).
why do large vehicles get tax breaks- like the cost of fuel is a business expense? if you’re using the road more (and driving a heavy vehicle especially) shouldn’t you pay more because you’re doing more damage? this system is so screwed up.
I sympathize with the victoms of the bridge collapse, but thought all the hoopla in the aftermath was a bit much. And lawsuits and settlements seemed out-of-line. By using public roads, drivers assume a certain amount of inherent risk. But, unfortunately, because nobody is responsible for anything anymore, every tragedy that happens today has to be blamed on someone else. This particular tragedy may have been avoided had more attention been paid to the state of our infrastructure. Isn’t there anyone playing the “what if” game to set priorities? Spending tax dollars on the repair and replacement of existing infrastructure isn’t as sexy as a new highway, a new ballpark, etc. People assume that since it’s there and working, it requires no attention and little consideration. Anyone driving in and around the metro can see the lousy state of our roads (ie - potholes), and we continue to slap Band-Aids on them. Even the replacement of the collapsed bridge may be seen as little more than a Band-Aid for congestion. When will alternatives such as telecommuting, flex time in the workplace, and serious incentives for mass transit, carpooling, bicycle-commuting, even walking v. driving be implemented? The infrastructure isn’t keeping pace with population and the desire for personal transportation (how many 16-18yr olds today have their own vehicles vs. 20, 10, or 5 yrs ago?). It seems we need to find a way to get the pendelum moving in the other direction, away from attempting to build a highway system to accommodate every single occupant vehicle 24hrs a day.
Totally agree, Pete. When you live in a large Metro area the transit options should exist for you to be able to conveniently get to places that you would otherwise drive to. Even if you are forced to drive to work each day, you should be able to(again, the operative word here is CONVENIENTLY)take the bus/train to any of our major attractions or downtowns. Most of the transit centers, at least in Burnsville and Apple Valley, are deserted during the weekends. Do buses even run to MOA/Downtown(s) on the weekends?
Do buses even run to MOA/Downtown(s) on the weekends?
Once an hour from Apple Valley.
The Hiawatha Line should be extended to serve this corridor, as appose to the BRT, I mean extra lane, on Cedar Hwy 77
The “No New Taxes” bumper sticker bugs me. What is the message - we should not raise taxes because our bridges are falling down? So what should we do, give up on this thing called civilization? If anything, you’d think the bridge falling down would be a message that we should raise taxes and fund our infrastructure.
Aah, perhaps it’s ironic? I doubt it, but could be.
Joe, I think the bumper sticker is trying to say that bridges falling down is one consequence of a “no new taxes” ideological approach.
Doh, I should have seen that.
Joe - the sticker bugs me too, since it wsan’t a funding issue. It’s not like they said “hey, we aren’t going to fix this bridge because there isn’t money.” They said “we’re not going to fix this bridge because it’s not broken.” They were wrong. No amount of money was going to fix that.
Also - not to be a jerk, but I hope the whole bridge memorial thing stalls out. I don’t want them cluttering up what is a beautiful park with something that’ll be a footnote in history at best.
Prof., I gotta disagree on both points.
It was a funding issue insomuch as we have plenty of unsafe infrastructure due to lack of funding. The message isn’t, “This bridge collapsed due to lack of funding.” It’s broader. The message is, “We have severely underfunded things for a very long time and we need to fix that to avoid another tragedy.”
And maintenance DID play a part in the bridge collapse. There have been many reports of stuck bearings, etc. that almost certainly weakened the structure. Perhaps not to the point of collapse but to say that lack of maintenance played no part is simply not credible.
As for the memorial, footnote in history it may be, but I know I appreciate the memorial to the mill workers on the Washburn A mill. I’m glad our forebears left such a marker for us. It helps us remember our history, what we’ve gone through and who we are.
Good points by all, thus far. History is important - especially now, in a day of a 15-minute “news” cycle of assorted images and speculation with no research, story line or conclusion. On the other hand, $1M??? C’mon. Accidents DO happen, all the time and there isn’t always a tidy way to assign blame (where blame = dollars).
Side note: if the wreckage from the bridge is inherent to the lawsuit being brought by the victims, shouldn’t THEY be responsible for removing it from its present location and storing it elsewhere? As a resident of Minneapolis, why am I paying for that?
