I drove across it.
I drove across one of the new I-35W bridge last night on the northbound side on my way home. I didn't get to drive across it yesterday morning because I had a dental appointment, and the clinic is closer if I drove the detour route on the 'back' side. You can see photos from the opening ceremony yesterday morning here from the Associated Press. The new bridge has a slight arch now, so it's somewhat hilly to drive across. I don't know if they made a slight arch for more support or design purposes though. The lights are situated from the center aisle now to give a fountain-ish look to them. Finally, the bridge's ends are marked by strips of blue bacon, which you can see from the AP's photos which look white, like fat stripes, in daylight. At night, they light up blue. They're supposed to represent the Mississippi River, but they still look like strips of bacon to me, complete with fat stripes ;b! There are now 5 lanes on each bridge instead of 4, but the extra lanes all disappear once you drive off the bridge.
It was somewhat surreal driving across it again for the first time since I started avoiding it when MnDORK was doing shaky work on the bridge's surface. It almost seemed normal, but the new arch reminded me it wasn't the same old bridge I had driven across for almost my entire life. I felt the same when I drove on the southbound side to work today. It was also weird seeing I-35W expand to 5 lanes just for that small stretch before going back down to its usual 4.
I'm leaving work early today to pick up my sister at the airport. She's visiting for the weekend for a funeral we're all going to on Monday. My Mom's friend's son died suddenly of acute Leukemia Monday 8(! He was fine up until last week when he started feeling a bit dizzy. This past weekend, he started vomiting and passing out. He was taken to the ER where eventually his brain died ;_;. He was only 26 or 27. I saw him grow up, go to school, college, etc.. He was even on KARE-11's Whatever show for awhile as one of its hosts when he was in high school. He was a good kid ;(. I'm worried about his mom. He was everything to her and kept her company while her husband worked at very odd hours. No parent should outlive their kids.
It was somewhat surreal driving across it again for the first time since I started avoiding it when MnDORK was doing shaky work on the bridge's surface. It almost seemed normal, but the new arch reminded me it wasn't the same old bridge I had driven across for almost my entire life. I felt the same when I drove on the southbound side to work today. It was also weird seeing I-35W expand to 5 lanes just for that small stretch before going back down to its usual 4.
I'm leaving work early today to pick up my sister at the airport. She's visiting for the weekend for a funeral we're all going to on Monday. My Mom's friend's son died suddenly of acute Leukemia Monday 8(! He was fine up until last week when he started feeling a bit dizzy. This past weekend, he started vomiting and passing out. He was taken to the ER where eventually his brain died ;_;. He was only 26 or 27. I saw him grow up, go to school, college, etc.. He was even on KARE-11's Whatever show for awhile as one of its hosts when he was in high school. He was a good kid ;(. I'm worried about his mom. He was everything to her and kept her company while her husband worked at very odd hours. No parent should outlive their kids.