Ayd Mill Road is a road in Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

. It runs diagonally through Saint Paul, connecting with Interstate 35E

Interstate 35E (Minnesota)

Interstate 35E is an Interstate Highway in the U.S. state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Saint Paul. It is one of two through routes for Interstate 35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being Interstate 35W through Minneapolis. Thus, both ends of I-35E are...

 at its southeast terminus, and feeds into Selby Avenue at its northwest end. Indirect access to I-94

Interstate 94

Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...

 is possible via Selby and Snelling

Minnesota State Highway 51

Minnesota State Highway 51 is a highway in Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 5 in Saint Paul and continues north to its northern terminus at its interchange with Interstate 694 / U.S. Highway 10 in Arden Hills. The route is in length.Highway 51 is also known as...

 Avenues. Originally known as the Short Line Road, it was renamed in 1993 for John Ayd, a German

Germans

The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....

 settler who maintained a mill and residence in the area in the mid-to-late 19th century.

History

The foundation of the roadway dates back to the 1880s when the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad

The Milwaukee Road, officially the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwest and Northwest of the United States from 1847 until its merger into the Soo Line Railroad on January 1, 1986. The company went through several official names...

 acquired the right-of-way of a stream bed to lay down commuter rail. The "Short Line," as it was called, was one of the main interurban

Interurban

An interurban, also called a radial railway in parts of Canada, is a type of electric passenger railroad; in short a hybrid between tram and train. Interurbans enjoyed widespread popularity in the first three decades of the twentieth century in North America. Until the early 1920s, most roads were...

 routes that served Saint Paul and its railroad suburbs on its way to Minneapolis at the turn of the 20th century. With the advent of the TCRT

Twin City Rapid Transit

The Twin City Rapid Transit Company , also known as Twin City Lines , was a transportation company that operated streetcars, and buses in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Minnesota...

 streetcar system in the 1910s, the line was redundant and was converted to heavy rail by the CMSPP, though it still carried passenger trains between the Saint Paul Union Depot

Saint Paul Union Depot

The Saint Paul Union Depot was the main train station in the city of Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Saint Paul Union Depot Company controlled of St. Paul trackage and terminal facilities, including the depot building...

 and the Milwaukee Road Depot in neighboring Minneapolis

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

.

In the 1960s, the city of Saint Paul began construction on the Short Line Road, envisioning a below-grade, limited access direct link between I-35E and I-94. However, local opposition in the Merriam Park neighborhood, coupled with the stunted construction of I-35E due to opposition from the Summit Hill neighborhood, kept the vision from being a reality. A connection was made at grade with Selby Avenue, but the connection with I-35E was never made, forcing southbound travelers to exit on Jefferson Avenue when the road first opened in 1965.

Connection with I-35E and current use

For most of its life, Ayd Mill Road was un-striped, and very little traffic was seen on it. In the summer of 1992, the Saint Paul public works department temporarily linked Ayd Mill Road to I-35E to help mitigate traffic congestion during the completion of the interstate in the downtown area, after which the link was barricaded.

In the late 1990s the city again revisited the prospect of the I-35E-to-I-94 connection as part of an environmental study as one of many options for the public right-of-way. Other options included replacing the entire stretch of road with a park. In the end, the city decided the best option was a rebuilt roadway that extended north along the railroad to St. Anthony Avenue, where a connection to I-94 was possible. Though renewed neighborhood protest has blocked this measure, the road has been blacktopped and striped, and the I-35E ramps were reopened after signals were put on Ayd Mill's entrance ramps.

In February 2007 Saint Paul mayor Chris Coleman

Chris Coleman (politician)

Christopher "Chris" B. Coleman is a Minnesota politician and the mayor of St. Paul. He defeated incumbent mayor Randy Kelly in 2005 and took office on January 3, 2006.- Family and early career :...

 voiced his intentions to make the I-94 connection a reality.

The adjacent Short Line track is still used today, and Amtrak

Amtrak

The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...

's Empire Builder

Empire Builder

The Empire Builder is a passenger train route operated by Amtrak in the Midwestern and Northwestern United States. It is Amtrak's busiest long-distance route and busiest daily train, carrying more than 500,000 travelers annually since 2007. Overall, it is the railroad's 10th-busiest line. Before...

now runs on these rails. However, rather than running to Minneapolis, the Builder runs north-south just north of I-94 to reach Midway station

Midway (Amtrak station)

Midway Station is the Amtrak train station in Saint Paul, Minnesota, so named after the Midway area which is roughly halfway between the downtowns of St. Paul and neighboring Minneapolis. Its Amtrak station code is MSP and serves as the only intercity train station for the Minneapolis-Saint Paul...

.