'Sensible Bridge' to Save $409 Million for St. Croix Valley Taxpayers

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) and taxpayers in the St. Croix River Valley could save up to $407 million dollars on a new river crossing.

A plan unveiled today by a group calling itself the Sensible Stillwater Bridge Partnership (SSBP) detailed a bridge design that would cost no more than $283 million—almost half a billion dollars less than the estimated $690 million effort proposed by US Rep. Michelle Bachmann (R-Minn.) in 2004.

What’s more, the new bridge would handle the same traffic capacity and be completed within the same time frame as the bridge proposed by Bachmann.

“(Bachmann’s) plan is simply too much bridge for too much money,” Roger Tomten, a St. Croix Valley architect and 21-year resident of Stillwater, told reporters at the press conference unveiling the plan. 

The SSBP plan utilizes a three-lane bridge that would begin at Minnesota Highway 95 near downtown Stillwater and cross the St. Croix River, ultimately meeting Wisconsin’s Highway 64 just east of the approach to the Stillwater Lift Bridge.  

Under the SSBP plan, the Lift Bridge would be refurbished and used solely for pedestrian and bicycle use.

The Bachmann-proposed bridge, on the other hand, would cost Minnesota between $320-380 million with Wisconsin residents footing the remaining $250-310 million bill. By comparison, the most money taxpayers would pay under the SSBP plan would be $156 million and $127 million, respectively.

“It’s time to end this taxpayer-funded campaign to build this boondoggle over the St. Croix to the detriment of taxpayers and a long-protected riverway,” SSBP member and board chair of the St. Croix River Valley Association, Peter Gove, told reporters.

At least one politician in favor of the SSBP plan sees an opportunity to reallocate funds to Minnesota’s estimated 1,170 bridges that have been deemed “structurally deficient” by MnDOT.

“You’re talking about spending mega bucks on a mega bridge at the worst possible time for Minnesota and Wisconsin,” Rep. Alice Housmann (DFL-District 66B) told the crowd. “We could save hundreds of millions of dollars on (the SSBP) project. That money could be used to refurbish bridges throughout the metro area and greater Minnesota.”

William Pappas, vice president of field operations and safety director of the Plymouth-based general contractor Benson-Orth Associates, also used the press conference to weigh in on the debate.  

“The companion freeways associated with the mega bridge plan will promote sprawl-type development that utilizes too much land for roads and parking, adding more pollutants to Lake St. Croix and degrading the St. Croix waterway,” Pappas explained. “This is exactly what the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act was designed to prevent.”

The Coalition for the St. Croix River Crossing offered up this response stating: "It is disappointing that the 'Sensible Stillwater Bridge Partnership' wants to spend more time reviewing a plan that has already been rejected when we as a community and a region need to come together to support a project and vision that can move forward."

Bridges by the numbers:   

SSBP Bridge

Bachmann Bridge

Height

60 feet

160 feet

Speeds

40 mph

70 mph

Lanes

3 lanes

4 lanes

Traffic (est.)

18,000 cars/day

18,000 cars/day

Restrictions

no buses; large trucks

none

Minnesota cost (est.)

$156 million

$380 million

Wisconsin cost (est.)

$127 million

$310 million

Fate of Stillwater Lift Bridge

converted for ped./cycle use

converted for ped./cycle use

Source: Sensible Stillwater Bridge Partnership