"And I ended up right over the river. And everything was jammed up. And there was a semi next to me. A big semi. And we were just sitting there. And I looked at my coffee cup, and it was actually sloshing back and forth. And I was sitting still. My motor was running, but that was all."
— After this moment a couple years ago, Ginger Knaff stopped using the Lafayette Bridge (Hwy 52) that connects West St. Paul/South St. Paul and St. Paul.
Knaff isn’t alone. Other drivers say they are nervous about the river crossing, and even transportation officials acknowledge the Lafayette bridge’s deficiencies. Its concrete deck has deteriorated. It’s held up by rusting steel. It’s an outmoded design. And it had a lower safety rating than the old 35W bridge before that fell.
The Lafayette is scheduled to be torn down, but it will have to carry traffic for another year.
Five years after the collapse of the I-35W bridge, officials are still working to fix the deficient bridges in Minnesota. Read more from reporter Tim Nelson.
