Pedestrian river bridge connecting North Side, northeast Minneapolis draws excitement

The long-discussed prospect of a pedestrian and biking bridge connecting north and northeast Minneapolis over the Mississippi River is finally in the works, and it has residents buzzing.

Up to 100 people from across the city turned out Tuesday for the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board’s latest open house for the project. Nine attendees interviewed by the Star Tribune expressed excitement for a bridge that would expand access to the riverfront and connect two neighborhoods separated by more than 500 feet of water for those on foot and bikes or other small wheels.

“It’s something we’ve been dreaming about it,” said Mariam Slayhi, the president of the Bottineau Neighborhood Association in northeast. “We’ve been left separated, both sides of the river.”

The idea of a non-vehicular bridge connecting the two neighborhoods has been floated for around 25 years. Last fall, the park board began preliminary design work for a crossing that would connect N. 26th Avenue, on the west side of the river, to an area just south of NE. 18th Avenue, on the east side.

The east side landing would also include new trail paths leading down to the water, a dock and an outpost building for watercraft storage and classroom space for community use.

The plan — currently estimated to cost up to $35 million for just the bridge — still faces at least a five-year road before any grand opening, according to Tyler Pederson, the project manager. Concept designs are expected to be submitted to the park board by late summer.

But many residents felt confident Tuesday that the bridge would come.

The event marked the park board’s second open house for the project. Two bridge designs were presented: one for a wooden truss bridge with an overhead cover and the other for an arched steel bridge.

The potential for a crossing is exciting to many because it would connect the city’s two segments of the Great Northern Greenway, which stretches west to Theodore Wirth Park and east to Sunset Cemetery. A connection would streamline non-vehicular access to schools, businesses and the river itself on both sides.

North Minneapolis has largely been shut off from the river by industrialization and the construction of Interstate 94, which destroyed hundreds of homes in the 1960s.

“We don’t have a lot of access,” said Meg Luce, a North side resident.

Ted Tucker, an advocate for river access, said the east side landing of the bridge would be a destination for north Minneapolis.

“(It) would be a marvelous facility to get people down to the river,” he said.

The bridge would sit between the Lowry Avenue Bridge and the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway Bridge. Pederson said about 100 people already cross the latter bridge every day, despite it being designed only for trains.

Multiple people at the open house admitted they’ve used the railway crossing on foot.

“I’m all in favor of an elegant solution,” said Richard Rubenstein. “I think there’s a need.”