Martin Olav Sabo Bridge
Encyclopedia
The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge is a bridge in the city of Minneapolis and the first cable-stayed suspension bridge
Cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....

 in the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of Minnesota
Minnesota
Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...

. Formerly, the Midtown Greenway Pedestrian Bridge, it was renamed in honor of former Representative Martin Olav Sabo
Martin Olav Sabo
Martin Olav Sabo is an American politician and member of the Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and a former United States Representative for , which includes Minneapolis; the district is one of eight congressional districts in Minnesota.Sabo was born of Norwegian immigrant parents in Crosby, North...

, a fourteen-term member of Congress from Minnesota.

Opened and dedicated in November 2007, the bridge crosses Hiawatha Avenue (Trunk Highway 55) north of 28th Street East and just south of 26th Street East, joining Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the Minneapolis Midtown Greenway
Midtown Greenway
The Midtown Greenway is a rail trail in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is considered under segregated cycle facilities.Used both recreationally and for commuting, the partially below-grade Greenway runs east-west about one block north of Lake Street...

 at Hiawatha Avenue, allowing a continuous biking connection across the city. The bridge also links Longfellow community
Longfellow, Minneapolis
Longfellow is a defined community in Minneapolis, Minnesota which includes five smaller neighborhoods inside of it: Cooper, Hiawatha, Howe, Longfellow, and Seward. Grouped with South Minneapolis along the city's eastern border with the Mississippi River, Longfellow takes its name from Longfellow...

 (Longfellow and Seward
Seward, Minneapolis
The Seward neighborhood in Minneapolis, Minnesota, U.S., is geographically southeast of downtown and defined by the triangle of land bordered by Hiawatha Avenue to the west, Minneapolis Midtown Greenway to the south, the Mississippi River to the east, and Interstate 94 to the north...

 neighborhoods) to Phillips community
Phillips, Minneapolis
Phillips is a community in Minneapolis, just south of downtown. It is one of the most diverse and culturally-rich communities in Minnesota. Traditionally, it was both a community and a neighborhood . In other words, the Phillips community only contained one neighborhood, also called Phillips...

 (East Phillips neighborhood).

The City of Minneapolis owns and maintains the bridge.

Configuration

The new bridge eliminates the need for bicyclists and pedestrians to cross busy Hiawatha Avenue with a stoplight at grade-level. Instead, the bridge brings them north one block, over the highway, and back south, introducing a new grade-level crossing of 28th Street East west of Hiawatha. Users are still able to use the at-grade Hiawatha crossing after completion.

Structure

The bridge has a total length of 2,200 feet with the main span over Hiawatha at 220 feet. The height of the single tower from where the cables are suspended from is about 100 feet. This is the first true cable suspension bridge in the State of Minnesota. It was designed by engineering consulting-firm URS with input from the community.

Crime

The Martin Olav Sabo Bridge is an important part of the greenway passage for cyclists passing through an area with moderate amounts of crime. In recent times, several cyclists have reported being mugged just off of the bridge by Cedar Avenue, despite the presence of security cameras.

History

During Congressman Martin Olav Sabo's tenure, he earmarked $2.9 million in federal funding to the project. He is also recognized for acquiring federal funding to complete many capital improvements throughout Minneapolis. City advisory boards and committees forwarded the recommendation to rename the bridge after Sabo in 2005 (see City Council resolution) Hennepin County provided additional funding to total $4 million for the final project.

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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