This is unbelievable. Dennis Hegberg, County Board Chairman, didn't realize the magnitude and scope of construction to be required? MNDOT tells us not to worry, the freeway style bridge (which was requried by law due to Norm Coleman's legislation) doesn't mean 36 needs to be a freeway, it will still have stoplights. Anyone see the irony in that? We paid for this financial debacle that is hogging transportation dollars and destroyed the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act to build a freeway style bridge only to run into immediate stop lights in Stillwater? The only way to turn 36 into a freeway thru Stillwater is to eliminate nearly half the businesses that reside adjacent to it. That was thankfully rejected by Stillwater but we still get the boondoggle bridge. Wait until you see the amount of cut on the Wisconsin side of the valley. The county board chairman will really be wowed by that. It is just beyond the boundary of federal jurisdiction along the river and did not recieve attention as to it's visual impact. This bridge will change forever the St. Croix Valley around Bayport and Stillwater. The tragedy is that the size and scope was totally unnecessay.

Meanwhile MN/DOT is working on I-694 around the intersection with 36. At great expense & inconvenience to taxpayers and motorists, the construction will result in the same 2-lane roadways as before in spite of the new bridge and whatever traffic it will bring. The west metro would never get this treatment on the loop freeway system.

All of that work on the 694/HW36 intersection seemed to be all about adding ramp lights. Thank the bridge for that. Repeat after me, you can't build your way out of congestion.