Photoset
February 07, 2013

Rushford-Peterson Schools building (pictured here) was built in 1906 and is badly in need of repairs.

Two-hundred miles to the north, in Moose Lake, Minn., Moose Lake school Superintendent Bob Indihar struggles to make use of a 78-year-old building damaged in a flood last June. The school system spent $800,000 to repair the school but does not want to put any more money into the building.

The Rushford-Peterson and Moose Lake districts plan to join forces to ask the Legislature for $20 million each to offset part of their rebuilding expenses, hopeful that a collective approach will boost their chances.

Continue reading…

(Photos by Alex Kolyer for MPR)

Tags: schools infrastructure minnesota MN Legislature politics education

Photo
January 08, 2013
11 notes
The water main that broke in Minneapolis last week spilling millions of gallons of water onto the streets was installed in 1890. The water main that broke in Duluth on New Year’s Day? That one was installed in 1887. It will take $6 billion to fix Minnesota’s drinking water system — and it will take another $4.5 billion to fix the sewer system. Read the story from Dan Kraker.

The water main that broke in Minneapolis last week spilling millions of gallons of water onto the streets was installed in 1890. The water main that broke in Duluth on New Year’s Day? That one was installed in 1887.

It will take $6 billion to fix Minnesota’s drinking water system — and it will take another $4.5 billion to fix the sewer system.

Read the story from Dan Kraker.

Tags: Minnesota Minneapolis Duluth infrastructure

Quote
August 01, 2012
4 notes
"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.

Tags: Minnesota bridges infrastructure St. Paul

Photo
February 21, 2012
16 notes
From reporter Madeleine Baran: Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis is still closed between 26th and Lake streets, after a cable support broke loose, compromising a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the highway late Sunday. Light rail tracks running under the bridge are also closed, and buses are ferrying light rail passangers between the 38th St. and Franklin Avenue stations. The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge itself is also closed. “There are just too many unknowns at the bridge. We have too much to consider and look at, and we need to be absolutely sure of public safety before we can open the bridge,” Mike Kennedy, director of transportation, maintenance and repair for Minneapolis Public Works told MPR News Tuesday morning. Read more here.

From reporter Madeleine Baran:

Hiawatha Avenue in Minneapolis is still closed between 26th and Lake streets, after a cable support broke loose, compromising a pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the highway late Sunday.

Light rail tracks running under the bridge are also closed, and buses are ferrying light rail passangers between the 38th St. and Franklin Avenue stations. The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge itself is also closed.

“There are just too many unknowns at the bridge. We have too much to consider and look at, and we need to be absolutely sure of public safety before we can open the bridge,” Mike Kennedy, director of transportation, maintenance and repair for Minneapolis Public Works told MPR News Tuesday morning.

Read more here.

Tags: Minnesota Minneapolis bridge infrastructure transportation