A report shows that more than 1,100 bridges in Minnesota need serious repair work, Sen. Al Franken said Friday.
That means 8.8 percent of all the state’s bridges are considered structurally deficient, says the report, prepared by Transportation for America.
Even at that ,Minnesota bridges are in better shape than the national average: 11.5 percent of bridges around the country are structurally deficient, the report said.
Franken said the needed repairs would also provide employment for thousands of workers:
“Minnesota has so many men and women in construction who are on the bench — and have been for a long time — and so many projects in need of their skills. We should get them back to work rebuilding roads and bridges across the state that are in need of repair. While we’re going to have to make some big cuts in our spending, we shouldn’t cut the things we know will help our economy get back on its feet. Investing in infrastructure is a great way to grow our economy, put people back to work, and take care of much-needed work on our state’s roads and bridges.”
These Ramsey County bridges are at the top of the trouble list, as determined by daily traffic:
- Ramsey County: I-35E over Pennsylvania Avenue, 154,000 vehicles per day
- Ramsey County: I-35E, over the railroad tracks just north of downtown, 149,000
- Ramsey County: I-35E, Cayuga Street, 148,000
- Ramsey County: Hwy 36 over Lexington Avenue, 85,000
- Ramsey County: Hwy. 52 over the Mississippi River, the Lafayette Bridge, 81,000
- Ramsey County: Hwy. 52, over Plato Blvd, 74,000
Still, Ramsey doesn’t make the list of the top five counties with the highest percentage of bad bridges:
- Sibley County, 26.5%
- Mower County, 23.5%
- Pipestone County, 22.0%
- Renville County, 19.9%
- Lincoln County, 19.6%
These counties have the best percentages:
- Meeker County, 1.6%
- Stearns County, 1.4%
- Dakota County, 0.8%
- Kanabec County, 0.0%
- Stevens County, 0.0%.
