Share your reactions to the Minneapolis 35W Bridge design

I don't like it. It looks, well... it looks weird. Not in keeping with the area. Minnesota is so austere and frill-less. This thing looks like it should be in Florida or California. If it will be a bridge that won't collapse, I guess it would be worth it.

It vaguely resembles that late 70's church design, doesn't it?

Tom Fisher, dean of the University of Minnesota College of Design, says the design is "...simple and sleek with the river as the visual focus." You can hear more from him here - I'm listening now.

It'd better be better maintained than the last one.

What is it specifically that you like about it, Melinda? Free-word association is fine, there's no rules to break here.

Glad to see you Richard. Something tells me there will be consistent attention to detail on this...

I don't know. Call me crazy. I still don't like it. It looks overwhelming and churchy. And I'm sure it will detract from the river, not leave it as a focus.

Hmm, it reminds me of the SC Johnson Wax HQ--white modern columns and all....does it have:

--merging lane, two-middle lanes AND a bus lane in addition to the light rail addition?

They need to prject for the future AND not just to "git er done"---a $27 million dollar bonus if the deadline is met earlier? What happened to the tag line, "get it done as promised?"

A little overzealous if you ask me......

Thanks for rounding back and elaborating, Melinda.

Joanne, I'm with you in the churchy feeling, but it is kind of "groovy" too. There were concerns that while on the bridge the cars will not feel as if they're near or over the river, sort of a design disassociation. Considering the collapse, I don't think people would agree that's a bad thing.

Well Veronica I haven't been to their HQ *grin*. To answer your questions with what it DOES have:

"The conceptual drawings of the winning bid showcase two side-by-side concrete bridge spans that will cross over the Mississippi River. Each span will hold five lanes of traffic going in each direction."

Car traffic. There's an option for foot traffic if they choose to suspend a pedestrian bridge below it, but there's what you have.

Julia, I'm one of those people that doesn't have a life.

I don't know how to go away for any length of time.

But the picture of the bridge over the river for I35W appears to be nice, and durable, and I hope it is.

My first impression was positive, but now I'm not so sure.

White? In Minnesota? It's like buying a white coat - always at the dry cleaner's from rubbing up against the car. White accents might be acceptable, like the pillars at the Northwest Life building. Why not an additional covering of native sandstone over concrete?

I don't think we should rush into this. I'd also like to see the bridge have a memorial quality, in honor of those who died in the crash, and in remembrance of the horror of the event.

But I do agree with Richard that the most important function is durability. And strength.

I think it's pretty. I'm not sure that enabling drivers to really see the river is such a smart idea. That would seem distracting, to me. I also happen to like the grand suspension cables similar to the bridge over the Mississippi coming off of Hennepin Ave (I think). I mean, if you're gonna be driving on a bridge, make it an experience. :-) Why minimize that?

But the design they've presented is fine. In the big picture, it doesn't matter that much to me. I drive over the Mississippi about twice a week, round trip, usually on 94. My kids always have to hold their feet up so they don't get wet.

And this thing with memorializing? I dunno. Everybody's gonna die. What's really being memorialized? The neglect by MnDOT to inspect the bridge adequately? The sad luck/fate of people who happened to be on the bridge? I intend no disrespect to those who met their end on the bridge.

We all die. That doesn't need to be permanently memorialized in such a public way.

Rick, you're always welcome here. When you wrote that the bridge looked "nice, and durable" it just struck me as the perfect Minnesota goal.

Hmmm M M has an interesting point about incorporating natural, native stone. I had to laugh outloud at, "White? In Minnesota? It's like buying a white coat - always at the dry cleaner's from rubbing up against the car." It might take some extra cleaning. Will it be invisible during snowstorms?

Thanks for speaking up Susan. Do your kids also put their hands to the ceiling while driving under elevated rail tracks? We did that, so many years ago. At any rate, I've heard several takes on the memorial aspect, and I have a theory: Many people had their own version of viewing or going through the collapse. It is a strange blend of personal and communal experience, whether or not they were directly affected. Perhaps a memorial is a marker for all of us.

True--a marker for us all. I've become rather cynical about death, I guess, which is a new response for me. A lot of people somehow get it into their heads that it won't happen to them. Or maybe that they'll have control over the "how and when."

I know death too intimately to delude myself in that way. But I'm getting off-topic.

Oh, yeah. Julia, they hold their breath in the tunnels. I like to slow down whilst in the Lowry tunnel, just to watch their eyes grow big and their cheeks puff out. Sometimes I even get a little foot stamping. ;-)

And they aren't suppose to talk under railroad trestles, so I wish those were longer and more frequent.