Final Stage of West Broadway Bridge Work to Resume Thursday

Most of the work on the newly constructed County Road 81/West Broadway bridge that connects Robbinsdale to Minneapolis finished up this last November, but crews still have a few finishing touches to make before they can officially deem the project “complete.”

That work will resume this week.

“I would definitely say we’re in the home stretch,” said Tony Schrempp, a construction division manager for Hennepin County. “It’s good to get through a lot of the big things, and getting a lot of the road work done, and a lot of the impactful closures last year. You know, there’s still some that remains to get done, but it’ll be good to get to that point and kind of see a final product.”

After a six-month winter break, construction crews will begin the final phase of this project on Thursday, May 4.

That work will include trail reconstruction on the south side of Theodore Wirth Parkway, new landscaping, new signage and striping on the pavement.

Bike and pedestrian trails near the West Broadway Bridge will be reconstructed over the next two months.

This last part of the project should finish up by early July — weather permitting — and construction should be far less painful for anyone walking, biking and driving through this area.

“I think everybody appreciates and recognizes that it was due for an upgrade,” Schrempp said of the bridge and the intersection below. “And being able to make some improvements with some sight lines, just for safety and just all the different modes of connectivity through here being with the bikes, peds, and even with all the cars and using it.”

Over the next two months, there will be occasional lane closures or even road closures as they finish up this work. Hennepin county will provide updates on those closures on the project website.

Related: County Road 81 Bridges Deemed “Structurally Deficient”

Robbinsdale