Volunteer! Get a team together or come by yourself. Help clean up in and around Webber Park. Supplies are provided. For details or to volunteer, call Mary Ann at 612-521-2100.

Contacts:       Mark Stenglein, Hennepin County Commissioner: 612-348-7882
Cara Lee, Public Affairs: 612-348-6883

Lowry Avenue Bridge construction open house on March 23

A new icon is under construction in Minneapolis.

Residents can learn more about the Lowry Avenue Bridge construction schedule at an open house from 6:30 to 8 p.m., with a short presentation at 7 p.m., March 23 at East Side Neighborhood Services, 1700 2nd St. NE., Minneapolis. Hennepin County Transportation Department and Lunda Construction Inc. staff will update residents about the project, provide a timeline of upcoming key construction dates, and be available to answer questions. “We are excited to move forward with this project, and it is great to see work crews in the Mississippi River,” said Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein.  “It might get noisy at times in the next few months, but the noise means people are working and Hennepin County is going to get a new bridge.  We appreciate the community’s patience and continued support.”

Demolition of the Super America building at the intersection of Marshall Street and Lowry Avenue continues; all debris is scheduled to be removed by the end of this week. Once the building is down, a chain link safety fence will be installed to keep people out of the work zone. Cofferdams are in the water, and crews will be driving approximately 100 river pilings in the river beginning tomorrow, Tuesday, March 2. Residents can expect loud pounding noises during the day from roughly 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. throughout the spring.

After extensive input from the community, residents can look forward to a new Lowry Avenue Bridge with:

- A basket-handle steel arch design that spans more than 400 feet across the navigational channel of the Mississippi River.

- Expanded sidewalks with unobstructed views of the Mississippi River.

- A high efficiency LED lighting system for the steel arch that is color adjustable.

- An anti-icing system that senses the conditions for icing and automatically disperses a measured amount of anti-icing material across the surface. This system can also be remotely controlled from the county’s Public Works Facility or even a snowplow.

- A new underground stormwater treatment facility called a DC sand filter that serves more than 80 acres of the surrounding community.

The Lowry Avenue Bridge, a Minneapolis landmark since 1905, was imploded in June 2009. Hennepin County engineers, in consultation with Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, determined it was necessary to close the bridge for safety reasons in April 2008, due to continued structural issues with one of the bridge piers. In 2004, bridge engineers discovered a pier had rotated out of vertical alignment; further rotation introduced an unacceptable risk.

The Lowry Avenue Bridge carries Hennepin County State Aid Highway 153 over the Mississippi River between north and northeast Minneapolis. The bridge had been substantially renovated in 1958 to accommodate river barge traffic.

If you wish to read the letter and flyer, please click on the links.

Webber-Camden Neighborhood Letter – February 20, 2010

What to Do List

Spring events – Webber Park

The community is invited to:

• Review maps guiding future development
• Review and discuss proposed strategies for attracting new development and addressing the challenges related to revitalizing Lowry Avenue ’s neighborhood retail areas.

The plan is an update to the 2002 Lowry Avenue Corridor Plan.  Its purpose is to sharpen the long-range vision for Lowry Avenue and to create a strategy for fostering change. It will lay the groundwork for ongoing improvement efforts led by multiple parties, including the neighborhood organizations, Lowry Avenue businesses, and developers.

“We want to see the Lowry Avenue Plan put into action, to build on the investment made by Hennepin County ”, said Minneapolis City Council President Barbara A. Johnson.

The reconstruction of Lowry Avenue , funded by Hennepin County , followed approval of the 2002 plan and is now complete from the Mississippi river to Victory Memorial Drive . The recently constructed Aldi development at the Penn and Lowry intersection, and a groundbreaking for the EcoVillage development at Lyndale and Lowry already held this year are setting a standard for new development. With the economy beginning to emerge from the recession, other opportunities for new development are being identified.

After soliciting community feedback at the March 25 meeting, the plan will be finalized and submitted to the City Council for adoption.

More information can be found at http://www.ci.minneapolis.mn.us/cped/lowry_strategic_plan.asp

Monique Cuff

5th Ward Council Office Associate
Council Member Don Samuels
(612) 673-2205; fax (612) 3940
E-mail:  monique.cuff@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

If you have questions, please contact Diane Nelson, Minneapolis 311. 612.673.5925-Phone; 612.673.5970-Fax; diane.nelson@ci.minneapolis.mn.us

March 5, 2010 (MINNEAPOLIS) Effective immediately, Minneapolis has lifted the Winter Parking Restrictions that were put in place last month. The restrictions went into effect on Feb. 11 after snow accumulations narrowed many streets, making it difficult for fire trucks, ambulances, and other emergency vehicles to navigate in some neighborhoods. Limiting parking to one side of many city streets created more reliable access for emergency responses.

Our recent mild temperatures and sunnier days have melted snow along city streets, widening them far enough that the Fire Chief, Public Works officials, and other public safety officials have determined the restrictions can be lifted. With this melting, we are now seeing normal winter conditions on most city streets.

Beginning March 5, normal parking rules again apply on city streets, and drivers should continue to follow all posted signs. Signs restricting parking to one side of the street were posted along stretches of Bryant Avenue (from Lake to 50^th streets) and Grand Avenue (from Lake to 48^th streets), and those restrictions will remain in place until April 1 to allow transit access on those streets.

The public’s cooperation in following the restrictions greatly aided emergency responders in their work to serve folks in Minneapolis. During the time the parking restrictions were in place, Minneapolis Fire crews made more than 1,800 runs for emergency medical calls and fires—and crews were able gain better access on those runs because of the parking restrictions.

Although the Winter Parking Restrictions have been lifted, it is still possible to have additional Snow Emergencies this year. Drivers should be mindful of the normal Snow Emergency rules and procedures and check the City’s 348-SNOW hotline, the Web, or the many other Snow Emergency notification tools if we receive more snowfall.

NRP News Digest

Minneapolis River Forum Current 3-4-10