Highway 24 Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name=Highway 24 Bridge


caption=
official_name=
crosses=Mississippi River
carries=Two lanes of Minnesota State Highway 24
locale=Clearwater, Minnesota
design=Steel girder bridge
mainspan=148 feet
length=1144 feet
width=38 feet
below=42 feet
open=1958
maint=Minnesota Department of Transportation
id=6557
coordinates= coord|45|25|04|N|93|02|37|W|region:US_type:landmark
lat=
long=
clearance=
traffic=
closed=
toll=
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The Highway 24 Bridge is a steel girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Clearwater, Minnesota and Clear Lake, Minnesota. It was designed and built in 1958 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The bridge is longer than any other bridge upstream of the Richard P. Braun Bridge in Coon Rapids, Minnesota. This is because the Highway 24 bridge crosses a river road and three spans of floodplain before actually crossing the Mississippi.

Proposed Future Bridge

The two-lane highway 24 serves as a major route for weekend recreational traffic transferring between Interstate Highway 94 and US Highway 10. As such it is badly over capacity and congestion is predicted to worsen on weekdays as the area becomes developed. To relieve congestion, a new freeway connection is proposed that would cross the river several miles to the east. Construction is currently proposed for the 2015-2023 timeframe, but may be sped up as this is considered a high priority project and more funding for transportation projects has recently become available due to a gasoline tax increase. It is not known if the new crossing will carry the MN 24 designation or a different number, as the present highway between Clear Lake and Clearwater would undoubtedly be transferred to local jurisdiction. The existing bridge will be maintained for local traffic and is proposed to be replaced in a separate project around 2040.

ee also

*List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

References

* cite book
last = Costello
first = Mary Charlotte
authorlink =
coauthors =
year = 2002
title = Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota
publisher = Adventure Publications
location = Cambridge, MN
id = ISBN 0-9644518-2-4

Crossings navbox
structure = Bridges
place = Mississippi River
bridge = Highway 24 Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = University Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = Future New I-94 and Highway 10 Interregional Connection Bridge
downstream signs =