Minnesota's version of a "bridge to nowhere"

Highway bridges in Minnesota have been in the news lately, but this is a story about one few folks have ever heard of....

Alaska isn't the only state to propose "bridges to nowhere." Such earmarks happen all the time, albeit on a less grandiose scale. One such proposal, valued at only $1.6 million instead of $238 million, is unfolding in Minnesota's rural Blue Earth County, recognized as having more rivers and streams than any other county in the state.

Rivers and streams are all very nice for the scenery, but they also mean there is a need for more bridges if the populace is going to get around. The County has recently secured $800,000 in federal funding to pay for half the cost of replacing the 107-year-old historic one-lane bridge over the scenic Blue Earth River and widening the road.

But many residents of the nearby Amboy, population 528, aren't so sure. Amboy is mostly known as a farming center, yet it is also the home of the tiny Amboy Cottage Café, which serves locally grown foods to area residents and others willing to drive the distance for its exceptional meals.

Lisa Durkee, the owner-operator of the café, and a number of other local residents are dead-set against the new bridge, which they argue is unnecessary because another bridge over the river is less than a mile and a half away. Instead, they propose abandoning (at least to vehicular traffic) the current one-lane bridge, which everyone agrees is substandard, and turning the area into a county park. This, they argue, will better benefit their town.

Except for one article in the Mankato Free Press in September of last year, the local media has to date ignored the controversy. But the story was picked up by the Star Tribune earlier this month. Here's what reporter Jim Foti writes:

The Dodd Ford Bridge is about as quiet as a country bridge can be, but spend a little time there and you'll understand what all the ruckus is about.

There are the farmers who hope to see a new concrete bridge that can handle their truckloads of hogs and corn.

There are the Blue Earth County leaders, federal money in hand, who plan to replace the rickety bridge and straighten a curve in the road.

And there are the people who love the ambience and rustic setting of the 107-year-old wood-decked bridge, who see it as an amenity to be saved, not a threat to drivers.

While everyone agrees that the bridge needs attention, not everyone agrees on spending $1.6 million to replace a bridge that carries only about 35 cars a day.

The conflict highlights the kinds of choices that are made in a state with more than 1,000 structurally deficient local bridges and tight transportation budgets.

The rest of Foti's story is here. No doubt with the state's legislature and governor fighting over transportation funding even little stories like this — and the Amboy residents' battle with the county over this "bridge to nowhere" — will soon become better known.