Construction on Washington Ave bridge presents challenges

By Neil Roy / The Hubbard School

Washington Avenue Bridge gives commuters a way to get from one side of the University of Minnesota campus to the other. But for the rest of the week, the bridge is closed for both drivers and bus riders. 

The closures caused a lot of confusion among commuters to the college. Fernando Sanchez, a first-year PhD student at the university, said that the construction made the bus routes inconvenient. 

"I thought it was going to be a really good day to commute, but now I have to walk an extra 10 minutes to catch the bus," Fernando said. 

Fernando came to Minneapolis from Los Angeles. He said the construction made the two cities seem surprisingly similar. 

"I didn't expect Minneapolis to be like Los Angeles, because there's a lot of road blocks, a lot of delays," Fernando said. 

The blocked road extends throughout a large portion of campus, preventing drivers from accessing a large chunk of the east bank campus. And even with a large number of construction signs, cars still tried to cross the bridge - with no success. 

Michael Pettijohn, a former UMN student, said construction made driving to the University even more confusing than normal. 

"It's just taking me down different places. And so, now we've got a little more traffic in some areas, and honestly just a little more convenience when you need to get somewhere on time."

Construction workers are currently inspecting the Washington Avenue Bridge to make sure that there aren't any cracks, fissures or other dangers on it. They conduct these checks every two years. 

The inspection will be finished at 3 a.m. Monday, August 11. Although the road inspection will be completed by then, the light rail system will undergo an inspection on Sunday, August 17, which will make it more difficult for Minnesota Twins fans to make it to the game against the Kansas City Royals that afternoon.