St. Croix Crossing

Title

St. Croix Crossing

Artist

Chellie Bock

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

This is the new St. Croix Crossing bridge. It connects Stillwater Minnesota to Houlton Wisconsin. It is replacing the 95 year old lift bridge in Stillwater, MN.
This bridge is pretty close to my home. It has been a VERY long time coming. There were several set backs and it almost didn't get made. It opened last week and YES I went and took photos of it. I didn't want to do the "usual" photos so I went underneath the bridge and got creative! Enjoy!

Below is a description of the project:This joint project between MnDOT and WisDOT will replace the 95 year-old Stillwater Lift Bridge with a new four-lane bridge to connect expressways on both sides of the St. Croix River. Work includes:

Realign Hwy 36 and Hwy 95
Build three-mile, four-lane connection to WIS Hwy 64 from the new bridge
Construct WIS Hwy 35 overpass, located near the bridge, the WIS Hwy 35/County E interchange and the pedestrian/bike path
Create extensive trail facilities and preserve historic Stillwater Lift Bridge for use by bikes/pedestrians
Minimize impacts on the area's historic and natural resources
Cost
Total project cost = $624 million to $646 million
Minnesota potential cost share $356 to $367 million; Wisconsin potential cost share $268 to $279 million
MnDOT is the lead agency on this project and is coordinating and sharing costs with WisDOT. Here’s how the costs break down:

Minnesota approach roads are paid for by Minnesota
Wisconsin approach roads are paid for by Wisconsin
Bridge, historic and environmental remediation and project development are split evenly between the states
The current total project cost estimate includes construction, right of way, environmental protection and remediation, contingency, bonds and insurance, engineering and management, etc. This is based on a total project cost estimates, which adds in all ancillary expenses. Traditionally, only construction costs are reported when referring to project costs.

Mitigation items
Implementation of project/environmental compliance mitigation items is ongoing, including:

Loop Trail construction in Minnesota. The first phase of construction spanning from north of Sunnyside Marina to north of Nelson St. in downtown Stillwater was completed in 2015.
Publication of a field guide (PDF) of historic/archeological sites.
Stillwater Lift Bridge publication detailing its rich history and background.
History
The St. Croix Crossing has been decades in the making, partly because of the many historic, cultural and environmental features along the St. Croix National Scenic Riverway. There has been extensive community involvement on both sides of the river to determine whether a bridge should be built and to select the best location/alignment for the bridge.

Through the years, Minnesota and Wisconsin DOTs have created thousands of documents, drawings and plans for the project. You can find those documents and other extensive background information here.

One important document is the Annual Project Summary Report, which describes the actions taken by the Federal Highway Administration, MnDOT, WisDOT and other agencies during the past year to implement the St. Croix River Crossing Project and mitigation commitments:

Uploaded

August 10th, 2017

Statistics

Viewed 218 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/12/2024 at 8:22 AM

Colors

Embed

Sales Sheet