DULUTH, Minn. (AP) - Duluth is planning to spend $2.5 million to fix a bridge that has acquired a certain infamy for its seemingly constant breakdowns since it opened more than 25 years ago.
The project will replace the Minnesota Slip Bridge’s cables and spools with a motor-driven rack and pinion system, Minnesota Public Radio (https://bit.ly/2n2oJnx) reported.
When the bridge opened, it completed the dream of a pedestrian-friendly entertainment district in Duluth. But the $800,000 blue span broke down days after the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“It was down for three weeks,” laughed Dan Russell, the longtime director of the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center. “That’s just been part of its history. It’s the little bridge that just doesn’t work.”
When the bridge is working, it’s easy to walk between Canal Park and the convention center. When it’s broken, it’s more than a half mile walk around.
“Canal Park’s a really important part of our community,” said Mayor Emily Larson. “And this blue bridge has been a paramount concern for people who work here, for people who live here, for our entire tourism industry, which really heavily relies on it.”
More than 600,000 pedestrians crossed the drawbridge during Duluth’s busy tourist season last year.
“We have millions of people who are here every year, and many of them rely on this link,” Larson said. “The blue bridge is a thing of legend. It has never worked fully, it has always been problematic.”
Russell said he counted 45 days between May and October 2015 when the bridge was closed.
“It’s a mess,” he said. “It really hurts business, to the point where we had some convention planners saying, ’We love Duluth. We love the DECC. But this is unacceptable, and if it isn’t fixed, we’re going to have to look elsewhere.’”
City engineer Duncan Schwensohn said the problems would occur on windy days, as the bridge would lower when the cables started to unspool.
“Sometimes in the right winds, actually often times, there’s right winds, that the span itself acts like a sail,” he said. “And it doesn’t actually start dropping down when the slack is starting to be released off the spool.”
The bridge will close to pedestrians for a month until June 7 while work is completed.
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Information from: Minnesota Public Radio News, https://www.mprnews.org
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