St. Croix bridge opening pushed back to 2017

Workers moved materials atop a pier
The St. Croix River bridge, expected to be a vital Twin Cities link connecting Minnesota Highway 36 to Wisconsin Highway 64 in Wisconsin, will not open next fall as planned. Here, workers moved materials atop a pier in late May.
Jeffrey Thompson | MPR News file

Completion of the St. Croix Crossing project connecting Minnesota and Wisconsin near Stillwater has been pushed back, with construction now expected to continue into 2017, state transportation officials said Friday.

The St. Croix River bridge, expected to be a vital Twin Cities link connecting Minnesota Highway 36 to Wisconsin Highway 64 in Wisconsin, was supposed to open to traffic in the fall of 2016.

"This is a very complex engineering project," Minnesota Department of Transportation Commissioner Charlie Zelle said in a statement. "This is only the second major bridge of its type built in the U.S. and the methods of construction are taking longer than anticipated."

Zelle said a new completion date will be announced before the end of the year.

Roadwork on the Minnesota side is complete and similar work on the Wisconsin side of the project is underway and on schedule, he added.

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