35w

Gov. Pawlenty and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak don’t agree on much these days, but plans for a simple moment of silence to commemorate the second anniversary of the I-35W bridge collapse have earned the endorsement of both men. 

R.T. Rybak boasts of his access to the Obama administration, but can Minneapolis’ mayor really expect to bring more federal spending on transportation infrastructure to the Twin Cities?

Illinois Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn is calling for the resignation of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a man with whom he shared a ticket but apparently little else except antipathy. According to Quinn, the two men haven’t spoken since Aug. 2, 2007. That was the day after the I-35W bridge fell in Minneapolis, an event that did not trigger estrangement between Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty and Lt. Gov. Carol Molnau, who was then also Transportation Commissioner. But the distant relationship between Blagojevich and his second-in-command does have at least one parallel in Minnesota, from the time of the last great statewide election recount in 1962.

Sen. Norm Coleman has a new weapon in his arsenal and it is intended for his anticipated opponent, Al Franken. The incumbent senator has recently suggested that if Franken had been in the U.S. Senate when the 35W bridge collapsed, Minnesota would not have received the same level of federal assistance due to Franken’s past [...]

Two months after National Transportation Safety Board Chairman Mark Rosenker was himself accused of distortions (Daily Mole, Oberstar) over the role of gusset plates in the I-35W bridge collapse, the Minnesota Department of Transportation closed St. Cloud’s DeSoto Bridge “due to gusset plate distortions.”

The DeSoto Bridge on Highway 23, a close cousin in design to [...]

As commenters here have noted, devotees of congestion pricing — the concept behind toll lanes on Hwy. 394 and (soon) I-35W — come from both sides of the aisle. The Bush administration’s fondness for highway tolls as user fees that shift road maintenance costs to drivers is only one version of the story, says

Running right through the heart of the Twin Cities is a spiritual road that dozens of evangelical churches say is specifically mentioned in the Bible as the “Way of Holiness.” They call it the “Highway of Holiness.” Others call it Interstate 35.

Evangelicals throughout the Midwest, from Laredo, Texas, to Duluth, Minn., have been praying at [...]

First responder: You might remember Bonnie Bleskachek as the former Minneapolis fire chief who was demoted after she was accused of beating her lover and harassing subordinates. The city spent more than $410,000 on legal fees, settlements and salary related to the allegations. But to Jay Berkman, who works for the PR firm Mata [...]

The bridge over Highway 65 four blocks south of Franklin Avenue is a two-lane bridge built in 1967.  It is 433 feet long and accommodates an average of 48,500 vehicle trips per day over its structure. Taking traffic on Interstate 35W southbound over Highway 65, the bridge has a structural rating of 42.1 percent and [...]

Fred Phelps is coming!

Fred Phelps is coming!

Fred Phelps… didn’t come.

After the collapse of Interstate 35W, the Westboro Baptist Church of Topeka, Kan., dashed off a pair of news releases announcing members of its congregation would come to the Twin Cities to protest at the memorial services of some of the victims. For the past 17 [...]