I’ve always liked old bridges. Here are some bridges that are either abandoned or repurposed from their original auto use
The Gold Cement slab
This was the last slab of concrete poured on I-9o in Minnesota, near the Blue Earth Rest areas, or for that matter the last slab between Boston and Montana. There was a sign at the rest area explaining it, now it’s gone. The slab itself has had asphalt overlaid on top of it, but is still visible on the shoulder
Dishpan Wildlife Management Area
I just thought this was a unique name
Eagle Mountain
The plaque reads:
GEOLOGY OF MINNESOTA
EAGLE MOUNTAIN
—————————————————————————–
When Newton H. Winchell, Minnesota state geologist, and Ulysses S Grant II (the president’s son) surveyed this area in the 1890s, they concluded that a peak in the Misquah Hills was the state’s highest point. Using an aneroid barometer they set it’s elevation at 2230 feet. Later comers argued that Eagle Mountain which Winchell and Grant did not measure and can be seen from the Misquah Hill was higher.
In 1961 A United States Department of the Interior survey team remeasured, using aerial photographs and controlled benchmarks. They found Eagle Mountain to be 2301 feet, making it Minnesota’s highest point. The also determined that the first Misquah Hill peak is surpassed by another unnamed summit 2265 feet above sea level located in section 19 of T93N, R1W, in the … Cook County area. The state’s lowest point is Lake Superior which has an elevation of 602 feet.
The igneous rock composing Eagle Mountain is as old as the Duluth Gabbro, which Geologists estimate at over a billions years in age.
Erected by the Minnesota Historical Society
196…
Jefferson Highway Marker
This Marker at the Iowa Border commemorates the completion of the Jefferson Highway in Minnesota and Iowa
The 2015 “Bicycles on the Metro Freeways” incidents
On June 16, 2015 in St. Paul a 14-year-old girl was bicycling from her friend’s house home and followed directions from her phone- which led her down I-94 at rush hour. Mn/DOT traffic cameras immortalized the incident. In the first we see her riding down the shoulder; traffic management turns on the flashing yellow lane control signals for the outside lane to warn motorists.
In the second video, state patrol has arrived and is talking to her, then escorts her off the nearest exit ramp for her to continue her trip on city streets. At least she was wearing her riding helmet.
Riding a bicycle on a freeway in Minnesota is of course illegal,
169.305 Controlled-Access Rules and Penalties
§ Subdivision 1
(c) The commissioner of transportation may by order, and any public authority may by ordinance, with respect to any controlled-access highway under their jurisdictions prohibit or regulate the use of any such highway by pedestrians, bicycles, or other nonmotorized traffic, or by motorized bicycles, or by any class or kind of traffic which is found to be incompatible with the normal and safe flow of traffic.
Although the situation is ambiguous in some places like the Cannon Falls bypass, in the Twin Cities all the interstates are clearly posted. The state patrol let her off with a warning rather than a citation. This of course leads to interesting questions on our blinding trust in technology; “phone guides motorist into the lake” incidents happen now and then. And there was that Tesla incident where a man was watching Harry Potter movies while the car drove him into a semi.
In the Twin Cities, phones have “outsmarted” local agencies; guiding motorists on a shortcut through a ritzy Edina neighborhood that’s a lot shorter than the official detour on freeways, much to the distress of residents. As a last resort the city finally closed down the street.
A 14-year-old doing something clueless and dangerous isn’t shocking, but the same summer there were three more incidents, involving adults. The very next day a man was bicycling on the freeway in Woodbury, but exited before state troopers could intercept him. A third incident took place on August 19 in New Brighton. In this case the man was actually in the traffic lanes; the teenage girl at least had enough sense to use the shoulder.
Then on September 9 the fourth incident didn’t have a happy ending when a man was killed bicycling on I-94 near W. Broadway in Minneapolis. There’s endless debate about where bicycles do and do not belong, but I don’t think anyone disputes an urban freeway is not the place.
The Superwide Median
This peaceful country scene is actually in the middle of Interstate 90. Southeastern Minnesota was missed by the last glaciation, resulting in streams eroding deep V-shaped valleys. This causes problems if you need to build a superhighway through the area. In this case, I-90 needed to descend from the top to the bottom, and the only way to do it was to put one lane on either side of the valley. Although you can’t really see the freeway from this angle, you can see the sides of the valley on either side of the picture.
First Mississippi River Bridge
This peaceful country scene is actually in the middle of Interstate 90. Southeastern Minnesota was missed by the last glaciation, resulting in streams eroding deep V-shaped valleys. This causes problems if you need to build a superhighway through the area. In this case, I-90 needed to descend from the top to the bottom, and the only way to do it was to put one lane on either side of the valley. Although you can’t really see the freeway from this angle, you can see the sides of the valley on either side of the picture.
A Minnesota State Highway in Wisconsin
MN 23 cuts through a two block long stretch of Wisconsin on it’s way to Duluth. This stretch is maintained by Minnesota, and there are no state line signs. This is a view looking northeast into Wisconsin; the sign at left says “Carlton County
Slayton Crash Memorial
On August 31, 1949, two cars packed with teenagers plowed into each other in the fog on the gentle curve at the south end of town. 12 out of the 13 were killed in what is arguably the nation’s deadliest two car collision. The incidene t gave the town notariety that lasted for decades, long after the highway was rerouted around the edge of town.
Originally there was a billboard memorializing the site, but over the years it deteriorated.
As the generation that can remember firsthand is passing, they found it fit to erect this more permanent memorial. The metal “X marks the spot- Think!- Please Drive Safely” signs are the same ones used by South Dakota since the early 80’s to mark DWI crash scenes, but are derived from an older design that used to be used by automobile insurance companies.
The plaque reads:
April 21 1940
Our Nation’s most tragic car accidentLeo Egge – 18, Carl Falk – 21, Ruth Fisher – 15,
Wayne Gamble – 15,Cecil Jensen – 23, Everett Johnson – 16,
George Larson – 20, Hollis Luft – 21, Gordon Meyers – 22,
Irene Schwab – 18, Harold Tuynman – 18, Lorens Tuynman – 19Only one survived
Elmer Meyers – 18
Ski Passes
You have bridges for cars, trains, and pedestrians, but here are some unique ones: An overpass and underpass for skiers. Lutsen Resort is built on both sides of a valley with a road down the bottom, so it’s inevitable that skiers will have to cross at some points. The overpass is for a blue-square run called appropriately “Bridge Run”. The underpass is for a blue-square called “Brule”. In the background you can see part of the main chalet area
Welcome to Pleasantville
In the movie Pleasantville, they showed a map where all the towns named Pleasantville are supposedly located, but they missed this real one in Southeastern Iowa. And this is an appropriate name for the place. Despite the modern cars, the town looks and feels like a throwback to simpler times.
When you’re used to driving in the Twin Cities, it’s a culture shock to explore these parts, where people use more than one finger to wave at you and speed limits actually mean something. The city is where I wound up, the country is what I like.
Tuber’s Big Green Signs
The Apple River is an extremely popular place to go tubing near the Twin Cities; there are three different resorts that do cater to renting tubes. Near the end of the ride, these overhead signs direct riders which direction to steer to return their tubes
The Minnesota, Iowa, South Dakota Tri-Point
Unlike many state Tri-Points which are underwater or in remote locations, this one is right in the middle of the road. Here’s a younger me standing in Iowas with an arm in Minnesota and South Dakota, and some more pictures of the area. The Monument was originally in the middle of the road but got hit too often, now just a benchmark is in the road and the monument is off to the side
The text reads:
TRI STATE MARKER
1859
Set at the junction of the states of Minnesota, Iowa, and Dakota Territory by
the federal land office survey of Minnesota’s western boundaryEarly 1900’s
Removed after partial destruction by vandals1938
Repaired and reset by adjacent counties at original site under direction
of the US Department of Interior1979
Broken from base by vehicle traffic1980
Restored and relocated at this site by the county governments and historical societies of Lyon County, IA.,
Rock County, Minn. and Minnehaha County, S.D. Flush marker set at original location 48 deg 30 min n.l.Dedicated to the Pioneers of Souixland this 26th day of October 1980
The Frank Lloyd Wright Gas Station, Cloquet
Another View, 2020
The 100 foot flagpole
During the installation of the tower lighting installation at I-494 and MN 100 a few years ago, workers decked out the towers with flags until they were finished.
