There was a small crowd of bicyclists and walkers waiting in Stillwater yesterday morning as MnDOT workers removed barricades and officially opened the historic Lift Bridge for pedestrians. The long-awaited reopening of the bridge came after three years of restoration work.
With the bridge now open, the Loop Trail is also now complete, allowing people to cross the river on the Lift Bridge and the new St. Croix Crossing, comprising a nearly five-mile route.
A planned celebration for the event was postponed due to public health concerns. It is now scheduled for the weekend of August 28-29. St. Croix 360 will provide more information as we get closer to the date.
Twenty-four hours after the opening, MnDOT announced the bridge will temporarily close again twice this week for some final electrical work.
But although the newly renovated lift bridge is now open, we’ll need to raise the lift span until 10:30 a.m. today, June 2, and again on Thu, June 4 from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. During those times, the lift bridge will be closed to all traffic. The short-term closures are needed to make some additional adjustments to the electrical system on the bridge’s lift span.
– Minnesota Department of Transportation
Here’s a report on the reopening from Valley Access Channels:
And here’s a video from Discover Stillwater:
A highly-anticipated event that came in the middle of two crises facing the region, the bridge also hosted a peaceful demonstration against police violence on its opening day.
Mary Divine of the Pioneer Press shared photos: