Kellogg-3rd Street Bridge closes in St. Paul for renovation project

ST. PAUL, Minn. (FOX 9) - St. Paul city leaders say 14,000 cars pass over the Kellogg-Third Street Bridge each day. 

But as of this week, that number is now down to zero. 

On Monday, the bridge was closed for a three-year, $92 million reconstruction project.

"It’s a complicated and really important project, even by bridge standards," St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw told FOX 9. "It goes over I-94. It goes over a railroad. It goes over some important tribal locations."

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) built the bridge in 1982, but eventually passed ownership over to the city. 

In 2014, city officials learned the bridge had become structurally deficient. 

"If you stand under those piers and look up, the piers are cracked, and you can see they are structurally deficient," Kershaw said. "The problem with this bridge is the design. They later learned it was insufficient [and] wasn’t structurally sound… People went back and realize that design didn’t withstand the test of time."

Now, crews will work to tear down the existing bridge, and start over on a replacement bridge with four traffic lanes and new 12-foot pedestrian/bike paths.

"This new bridge will benefit both our East Side and downtown district," said St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter in a stement. "I am grateful to our project partners, as well as all the neighbors who weighed in to advance a design that balances the needs of drivers, bus riders, bikers, and pedestrians alike."

"I just wish it wasn’t going to take three years," neighbor Dana Pye said. "People should build them better in the first place."

While the bridge is under construction, locals will have to use a detour on East 7th Street.