Star Tribune
Residents see many benefits from pedestrian bridge over Mississippi River linking north and northeast Minneapolis
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.”
Brooklyn Park police are seeking the public’s help in finding the driver of a vehicle that struck and injured a 12-year-old girl walking to school on Wednesday.
The crash occurred at 8:42 a.m. near the intersection of Boone Av. N and 63rd Av. N. The girl was crossing the street to reach a bus stop, according to police. The driver then fled the scene.
The girl sustained “moderate injuries” and was taken to the hospital by ambulance, police said.
Police described the vehicle as a white 2015 to 2019 Hyundai Sonata that is missing a passenger side rearview mirror. Police said the driver was a woman, but did not have a specific description. The vehicle came from the west across 63rd Avenue from the Bass Creek neighborhood between Highway 169 & Boone Avenue , then continued east on 63rd Avenue toward County Road 81.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Brooklyn Park police at (763) 493-8222.
Minnesota Wild owner Craig Leipold is expanding his plans of renovating the Xcel Energy Center to include the construction of a 650-room convention center hotel.
It originally included plans to renovate the adjacent RiverCentre, a parking ramp and a bridge along Kellogg Boulevard. It was previously estimated to cost around $250 million to $300 million.
The price tag will rise now, Leipold said, but he did not specify how much. A 650-room hotel would top in size the 410-room InterContinental Saint Paul Riverfront hotel that is already downtown.
“The whole project is so great for downtown St. Paul, and it’s not just the arena,” Leipold said. “It’s a lot of stuff, so we think it’s great for downtown. It’s good for our fans, good for our market and we’re pushing hard this year.”
Minnesota Wild fans cross St. Paul’s West Seventh Street to the Xcel Energy Center before a Minnesota Wild game in October 2021. (Alex Kormann)
Leipold said the Wild would perhaps contribute up to $250 million in financing and would seek further assistance from the state. But he said it’s unclear what the chances are to receive that support, given the November elections could potentially result in a new governor and the Legislature in Minnesota.
“We’re trying to sell the legislature and the governor,” Leipold said. “The problem is, nobody knows who’s going to be running the legislature, Republicans or Democrats. We don’t know who the governor’s going to be. We’re kind of in a tough spot right now. But ultimately, we need to get the renovations and the upgrades in this arena.”
State Sen. Sandra Pappas, who expressed skepticism about the project receiving state assistance last December, was unavailable for comment Wednesday. The office of Gov. Tim Walz did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
The suit alleges there is no plan for single-family homes at the development, which will instead be multi-family homes. Buyers will have to obtain either a traditional mortgage, with interest, or “obtain a loan from a Sharia-compliant lender” that Nolosha knew would charge a “profit rate” on top of the cost of the house. It also alleges that “most egregiously” customers will not be able to move into Nolosha in 2023 or 2024 because the development will not be ready for “many more years at best.”
It also says that when the Attorney General’s Office requested that Nolosha pay customers a full refund due to the delays, Nolosha refused.
The Attorney General’s Office contends that Nolosha doesn’t own the development’s proposed site in Lakeville, but offered to buy the land for $4 million in April 2023. Four extensions to the closing date have since been granted, the latest setting that date for Nov. 10 and the price at $3.4 million.
Abdullahi has said he has a signed purchase agreement for the property.
The lawsuit states that Nolosha has lacked even basic communication with Lakeville and has not submitted a comprehensive plan to the city about the development, let alone broken ground. Attached to the lawsuit is a photo of the proposed site, calling it “just undeveloped wetlands.”
It accuses Abdullahi of enriching himself as the “sole full-time employee of Nolosha” earning a salary between $2,000 and $4,000 per month.
