Old Cedar Bridge Needs Your Support

[seberly]

This note just in from Rep Ann Lenczewski. The Old Cedar Bridge is an important link for cyclists in the south metro including access to the River Bottoms Trails.

Please send your E-mail into Ann for more details on how to act to support this project.

se

(original note)

I am sending an email to you because your name is on my email list of
people who want to help replace the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge. Today, my
bill at the Legislature, which begins the process of removal of the
structurally unsafe bridge in preparation for the construction of a new
bridge, received a hearing in the Minnesota House. As a Bloomington
legislator, I am the chief author of this legislation but I need a lot
of help from hikers, birders, cyclist commuters, off-road bikers, the
disabled community, Audobon members, Minnesota valley Wildlfe Refuge
members, Izaak Walton Leaguers, cycling clubs - anyone who supports this
effort.

Please pass my email on to anyone who might be interested in this issue
or any group email lists you have. Any individual who would like to be
added to my email list for the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge effort can send
me an email directly - rep.ann.lenczewski@house.mn. We need residents
from all over the metro - with heavy emphasis on this who reside in
Hennepin or Dakota County to help out. We want you to email your own
legislator (we will let you know who your legislator is and how to
contact them). This is regional asset and we need to demonstrate wide
support and get legislators across the state to support this bill.

Lastly, I want to publicly thank Chuck Kjos, birder and hiker who gave
eloquent and passionate testimony to the committee and Jim Gates, Deputy
Director of Public Works, City of Bloomington who gave expert testimony
on the details of the bridge and its history.

Please send an email to be added to the group and forward this to other
potential supporters. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Ann Lenczewski
State Representative -

[TML]

Originally posted by seberly

Lastly, I want to publicly thank Chuck Kjos, birder and hiker who gave
eloquent and passionate testimony to the committee and Jim Gates, Deputy
Director of Public Works, City of Bloomington who gave expert testimony
on the details of the bridge and its history.


. . . And Troy Lawrence, who made the beautiful maps for her to hand out at the committee hearing. :cool:

[seberly]

See attached note from Rick Shultz - kudos to him for considering alternative solutions - there will be more to come this week as I am working to get information on exactly what to say when you contact your legislator about this project.

Steve Eberly

__________________________________________________ _____________

Hi folks,

It has been a while since we all last communicated...and I wanted bring
everyone up to date on the status of a few items concerning the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge. First of all, we all need to thank State Representative Ann Lenczewski for the bill she recently introduced to obtain funding for the maintenance, repair and/or replacement of the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge. This is a very important step, so Ann, thanks a bunch from all of us!

Secondly, Stef Bailis plus Jim Gates and Ted Schoenecker (City of
Bloomington) have been discussing the possibility of a "capstone" project
to be undertaken by students enrolled in the University of Minnesota's
Department of Civil Engineering. It is anticipated that this project would
compare the costs/benefits of either rebuilding the existing structure or
its removal and replacement. Most likely, this project would be initiated
in the Fall Semester of 2004 and completed by January 1, 2005.

Related to the above discussions, Stef Bailis has obtained some preliminary
prices on replacement materials for the rebuilding of the existing bridge.
From what we currently understand, the trusses and piers of the of the
bridge are in relatively good condition. On the other hand, many of the
I-beams and most of the stringers are not structurally safe. Assuming that
the rebuilding of the bridge is technically feasible, the I-beams,
stringers, and existing deck of the bridge could be replaced with new
I-beams and a new solid concrete deck comprised of 21 foot panels. The
estimated cost for materials only for the I-beams and concrete panels are
as follows:

MATERIAL COSTS
Replacement of all 44 floor beams:
$66,000 American Structural Metals
Installation of prestressed concrete floor slabs: $135,710
Molin Concrete Products
Estimated material cost:
$201,710

Perhaps the replacement of the I-beams would be labor intensivie. On the
other hand, the concrete slabs are relatively easy to install, basically
needing only to be laid in place over the new floor beams. The concrete
slabs also meet the current AASHTO specification of 85 psf for pedestrian
and bicycles. Not included in the above estimates would be hand rails,
expansion joints/hinges, repainting, sealing, etc. In addition, no labor
costs are included in the above estimates.

With all new floor components, minor repairs to the trusses, and new safety railings, the bridge has the potential to last for many decades. In
addition, the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge has a deck that is nearly twice as
wide as a replacement bridge (20 feet wide versus 10 or 12 feet).

At any rate, this latest information offers some "food for thought" for all
of us as we consider alternatives to replacing our existing nonfunctioning
bridge with a structure that will meet the needs of hikers, bikers, bird
watchers, students, educators, and many others. If there is interest, it
might also be timely to hold another group meeting to discuss these items
plus other related events.

Thanks again to Ann, for her work in the Minnesota Legislature. Thanks
also to Stef, Jim, Ted, Chuck Kjos and all of you who want to see this
project reach a successful conclusion.

Rick Schultz
Refuge Manager
Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge
952-858-0701

[seberly]

Thanks to all of you that sent E-mails - it looks like with your support things are working!!!

In summary we still can help by sending two E-mails per the note below with more info from Ann:


Dear Steve,

Thanks for your willingness to help get the Old Cedar Ave Bridge
reopened. I apologize if was unable to directly reply to your email of
support. After I introduced my bill to attempt to reopen the Old Cedar
Avenue Bridge, I received hundreds of emails from bikers, hikers, and
birders willing to help out. Thank you again. While I have tried very
hard to personally respond to every email I may not have reached
everyone.

The good news is this - my Old Cedar Avenue Bridge bill has been
recommended for inclusion in the House Bonding Bill. This is a huge
victory!!! While we did not receive the amount of money we are
requested, it is a start! For all of you who helped by contacting me
and your own personal legislator- thank you!! For those who want to get
involved - read on.

Next step - we need everyone one we can get to send a letter thanking
the Chair of the Environment Committee - State Representative Dennis
Ozment (rep.dennis.ozment@house.mn (rep.dennis.ozment@house.mn)). Chair Ozment is to be commended as
it was his decision to recommend to Rep Phil Krinkie, the Chair of the
Capital Investment Committee, that the Old Cedar Bridge is worthy of
funding. Just send a two or three sentence email thanking him for
recommending for the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge.

Secondly, and just as important, please send an email to Representative
Phil Krinkie (rep.phil.krinkie@house.mn (rep.phil.krinkie@house.mn)) asking him to include the Old
Cedar Avenue Bridge funding in the final 2004 House Bonding bill. in
just a sentence or two, let Chairman krinkie know that you support
funding the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge and tell him why it is important to
you.

Again, thank you for all your help. Every email helps. Please feel
free to forward this email to anyone who may support our effort. Thank
you!

Ann Lenczewski - State Representative- Bloomington
rep.ann.lenczewski@house.mn (rep.ann.lenczewski@house.mn)

[fasterfoster]

Since I live in Rosemount, I live in Rep. Ozment's district. I sent a message yesterday! Keep up the great work.

[ppgc]

Any new updates on this? It would sure be nice to be able to get across there again. :)

[seberly]

As far as I know no futher progress has been made - I think Rep Lenczewski was successful in getting the bridge in the bonding bill - but you might recall that the MN legislature adjourned in May without doing much of anything - not the least of which was to pass a bonding bill - pretty sad state for MN politics - seems they forget who they work for sometimes...

[ppgc]

Maybe we can just purchase some cinder blocks and 2x10s ? ;)

[seberly]

You are receiving this email because you have expressed an interest in
the future of the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge. If you are know of others who
may be interested in this issue, please forward this email to them.

As you may know, I was the chief author of legislation last year to
acquire the funds to restore the Old Cedar Avenue Bridge over Long
Meadow Lake in the Minnesota River Valley. This bridge is critical to
biking commuters. hikers, birders and all of us who value access to and
across the Minnesota River Valley.

In the Minnesota of Representatives, my legislation passed out ot
committee, was included in the House Bonding bill and passed
overwhelmingly off the floor of the Minnesota House of Representatives.
Unfortunately, the House and Senate did not agree and no final bonding
bill passed. While we are off to a great a start, we will need to
involve supporters in encouraging more legislators to support our
efforts next legislative session. I will be making the Old Cedar Avenue
Bridge a top priority when session convenes in January.

Additionally, the City of Bloomington is pursuing a bikeway connection
across the Minnesota River at 35W as an alternative to a crossing at
Long Meadow Lake. The City of Bloomington has stated its preference for
restoration of the Old Cedar Avenue bridge but is pursuing both options.

Lastly, I have enjoyed working with everyone on this issue and look
forward to our efforts next year. I also want to publicly thank the
Chair of the House Environment Committee, Dennis Ozment for his
leadership on this issue and his consistent work with bikers, hikers,
birders and trail users.

Thanks for your interest and please let me know if I can be of
assistance to you on this or any other issue.

Sincerely,

Ann Lenczewski
State Representative
rep.ann.lenczewski@house.mn (http://webmail.att.net/wmc/v/wm/41694B06000B67E90000653B216028130297049D0A0D0A9C?c md=ComposeTo&adr=rep%2Eann%2Elenczewski%40house%2Emn&sid=c0)

[ppgc]

Anyone know anything new on this? I am really interested in using this. :)