Cedar Avenue Bridge Is Open

Posted by Bikeverywhere, October 8th, 2016 1 response

The old Cedar Avenue Bridge is open! These photos are courtesy of Doug Stevens who was at the bridge this afternoon. He reports that the construction crews were rolling up the chain link fence and allowing pedestrians and bicyclists to cross.

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Officially, the bridge will open sometime in mid-October, but with a couple of caveats. The bridge will not be plowed or salted this winter in order to allow the concrete to properly cure. The bridge will also close for an unspecified period next year because of construction of the Visitor’s Center and surrounding area.

The bridge closed around the year 2000 because the structure had deteriorated to the point where engineers could poke holes in the I-beams supporting the bridge deck with a pen. During the next decade and a half, it sat unused as 5 different government agencies debated who would own the bridge, whether it should be demolished and replaced with a new pedestrian bridge, who would pay for all of the work, etc.

That’s all been resolved now and we finally have another option for crossing the river. The bridge will also be very popular with bird watchers, pedestrians and fishermen and fisherwomen.

Filed under: Bikeverywhere News

One Comment to “Cedar Avenue Bridge Is Open”

  1. Dave Says:

    Thanks for the great post, Doug. I get the Bloomington city updates but your info is much more complete and helpful. Good to know about the visitor center next year.