Recent construction on the bridge lowered the railings to 42 inches, when state guidelines say they need to be 54 inches high.
The Minnesota Star Tribune Spencer Davis and other local cyclists are concerned that the guardrails on the Mendota Bridge are too low. (Spencer Davis) When south Minneapolis resident Spencer Davis first biked across the newly renovated Mendota Bridge, he noticed the guardrail built to protect pedestrians and bikers from falling into the Minnesota River seemed unusually low. One wrong move and he felt his 6-foot, 2-inch body could go tumbling over the edge.
“It seems like someone could easily go flying over,” said the 32-year-old, who was initially excited when the bridge was reopened to bicycle traffic after the construction project wrapped in September.
Davis, who noticed the change on his first ride across the bridge since the new railings were installed, wasn’t the only biker nervous about going across the span — which towers over the river and carries state Highway 55 from the Fort Snelling area to Mendota Heights — since it was reopened. Local cyclists have taken to social media airing their concerns, with many noting the new metal rails are considerably lower than the old guardrails. One commenter in a local cyclist Facebook group said they were, “riding on it a few days ago and was terrified. Ended up hugging the car side, with the thinking I’d rather fall into the highway than off the bridge.”
In a thread on Reddit with more than 100 comments, many […]
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