Martin Olav Sabo Bridge

Martin Olav Sabo Bridge
The Marton Olav Sabo Bridge viewed from the south, from around 28th Avenue.
Official name	Martin Olav Sabo Bridge
Carries	Pedestrian and bicycle
Crosses	Minnesota State Highway 55 (Hiawatha Avenue)
Locale	Minneapolis
Maintained by	Minneapolis Public Works
Design	cable-stayed suspension
Total length	2,200 feet (671 m)
Height	100 feet (30 m)
Longest span	220 feet (67 m)
Opened	Ribbon Cutting November 8, 2007, at 4:00PM CDT
Coordinates	44°57′17″N 93°14′33″W / 44.9547°N 93.2425°W / 44.9547; -93.2425Coordinates: 44°57′17″N 93°14′33″W / 44.9547°N 93.2425°W / 44.9547; -93.2425

The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge is a bridge in the city of Minneapolis and the first cable-stayed suspension bridge in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Formerly, the Midtown Greenway Pedestrian Bridge, it was renamed in honor of former Representative Martin Olav Sabo, a fourteen-term member of Congress from Minnesota.

Opened and dedicated in November 2007, the bridge crosses Hiawatha Avenue (Trunk Highway 55) north of 28th Street East and just south of 26th Street East, joining Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Minneapolis Midtown Greenway at Hiawatha Avenue, allowing a continuous biking connection across the city. The bridge also links Longfellow community (Longfellow and Seward neighborhoods) to Phillips community (East Phillips neighborhood).

The City of Minneapolis owns and maintains the bridge.

Configuration

The new bridge eliminates the need for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross busy Hiawatha Avenue with a stoplight at grade-level. Instead, the bridge brings them north one block, over the highway, and back south, introducing a new grade-level crossing of 28th Street East west of Hiawatha. Users are still able to use the at-grade Hiawatha crossing after completion.^[1]

Structure

The bridge has a total length of 2,200 feet with the main span over Hiawatha at 220 feet. The height of the single tower from where the cables are suspended from is about 100 feet. This is the first true cable suspension bridge in the State of Minnesota. It was designed by engineering consulting-firm URS with input from the community.^[2]

Crime

The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge is an important part of the greenway passage for cyclists passing through an area with moderate amounts of crime. In recent times, several cyclists have reported being mugged just off of the bridge by Cedar Avenue, despite the presence of security cameras.^{[citation needed]}

History

During Congressman Martin Olav Sabo's tenure, he earmarked $2.9 million in federal funding to the project. He is also recognized for acquiring federal funding to complete many capital improvements throughout Minneapolis. City advisory boards and committees forwarded the recommendation to rename the bridge after Sabo in 2005 (see City Council resolution) Hennepin County provided additional funding to total $4 million for the final project.^[3]

Notes

1. ^ "Roadguy blog: Check out the new Greenway bridge". Star Tribune. December 8, 2006. Archived from the original on 2007-09-26. http://web.archive.org/web/20070926222624/http://www.startribune.com/blogs/roadguy/?p=124. Retrieved 2007-08-31. 
2. ^ "Midtown Greenway Coalition Board Meeting Minutes". Midtown Greenway Coalition. April 18, 2002. Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. http://web.archive.org/web/20070927043209/http://www.midtowngreenway.org/coalition/Minutes/2002_04_18_bd_minutes.html. Retrieved 2007-08-31. 
3. ^ "From the Department of Public Works". City of Minneapolis. August 9, 2005. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/2005-meetings/20050819/Docs/08_Midtown_Greenway_Bridge.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-31.  This contains official documentation from the Minneapolis Department of Public Works.

• "City Council Action Proceedings". City of Minneapolis. August 19, 2005. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/council/archives/proceedings/2005/20050819-proceedings.pdf. Retrieved 2007-08-31.  This contains official City Council approval on the bridge.
• "Capital Improvement Projects: Midtown Greenway Pedestrian Bridge". City of Minneapolis. 2007. http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cip/mg_pedbridge/. Retrieved 2007-08-31.  This contains the City of Minneapolis published update of the project.

External links

• North American Cable-Stayed Bridge Registry
• Rendered bridge animation by Star Tribune
• Metal Geek blog on the bridge construction