Do any long-time residents of the area recall what 46th and Hiawatha used to
look like in the 1980s, prior to Hiawatha being rebuilt around 1990? Was an
embankment ever partially constructed at 46th in anticipation of a bridge over
Hiawatha? Anyone have a photo from what 46th and Hiawatha looked like in the
1980s?

This aerial image from 1980 -
http://historicaerials.com/?layer=1980&;zoom=18&;lat=44.91953717915981&;lon=-93.21940183639526
- shows what looks like a shadow cast by a section of 46th Street just west of
Hiawatha, as if a portion of the street was rebuilt in anticipation of a bridge
over Hiawatha.

Anyone recall this or other traces of the planned Highway 55 freeway planned in
the 1960s but never built? This little post by David Smith is interesting.
http://minneapolisparkhistory.com/tag/minnesota-trunk-highway-55/. Is there any
other official history of this project or the story of how it never came to
pass?

After they cleared the houses & businesses from the west side of Hiawatha Ave.,
they built a 4-lane bridge for 46th St. at grade, over big hole which was to
be the freeway trench for Hiawatha. It was an empty weed patch under the bridge
for years, and a great place for kids to ride bikes. It had railings similar
to the ones on the Ford Bridge. The road was narrowed to 2 lanes for cars,
then the bridge was eventually torn down for Hiawatha Ave. reconstruction.
It was a bridge over nowhere.

Charlie Casserly

Rest of post

Very cool! Anyone have any photos of this they can scan/post here?

We've lived in our house for 35 years, and face east along the Hiawatha
corridor, so that we see the earth berm and the noise wall along the
train. When we bought the property, a triangle of our front yard and the
empty lots to the north of us, as well as the land along the corridor,
was owned by the State of MN, because they were the ones who bought and
cleared houses along the corridor to make way for a freeway, I think in
the late 50's? (This information came to us through our neighbors who
have now died, who lived along the corridor when it was being cleared.)
Apparently there was a plan for a wide freeway, but it was stopped by
people concerned that it would ruin the creek and possibly the falls.
For years there were new plans bandied about, but no progress occurred
until the early 1980's. Meanwhile, the lots that had been cleared and
not built on sat empty with post and chain fences around them marking
them as State land. And there was a "bridge to nowhere" at 46th St.,
approximately where the drainage pond is now on the west side of Hiawatha.

In the early 80's, the current plan for Hiawatha Avenue was decided on,
and roadwork began. It was a more modest plan, so the state sold all
land not needed for the new right-of-way to the agency then known as
MCDA, the Minneapolis Community Development Agency, who gradually
developed the newer housing stock mixed in with the older homes that you
now see at the north end of every block. Some intersections were
closed, such as the one at 44th St. and Hiawatha. The bridge to nowhere
was removed. The highway was built first, then the dividing berm, then
the train.

Our little boys always had interesting construction equipment to watch,
right outside our door! The State was forced to buy some properties due
to a "Hardship Law", when people couldn't sell their houses because of
the uncertainty of the plan for the roadway. Those properties were
rented out, but the State was not set up to be a good landlord, and
those properties gradually deteriorated until they were knocked down.
That was the case with the house to the south of us, and when it went
down we were able to buy half of the lot each with our neighbors. A few
years after we did that, the city council put an end to that practice
for tax reasons, and any remaining lots left over and owned by the MCDA
were developed into single or multi-family homes.

Other interesting things: Before the road was actually built, older
Hmong refugees gardened the empty land, a small solace for the grief of
having left their way of life behind. The lots that weren't gardened
weren't mowed very often, so they looked pretty bad, but our kids loved
to play in the grass as if it were a "jungle". And when they got older,
they would mow "basepaths" in the grass and play baseball. It felt like
a small slice of rural life in the city.

I don't have any pictures of that bridge; it looked leftover and run
down. I always wondered, too, what it was supposed to do in the
original plan.

It will be fun to see what other memories come out of this thread! It's
been a great place to live and raise our family, and now we love what
the train has brought to the neighborhood.

On 2/16/2015 10:49 AM, Sam Newberg wrote:
> Do any long-time residents of the area recall what 46th and Hiawatha used to
look like in the 1980s, prior to Hiawatha being rebuilt around 1990? Was an
embankment ever partially constructed at 46th in anticipation of a bridge over
Hiawatha? Anyone have a photo from what 46th and Hiawatha looked like in the
1980s?
>
> This aerial image from 1980 -
http://historicaerials.com/?layer=1980&;zoom=18&;lat=44.91953717915981&;lon=-93.21940183639526
- shows what looks like a shadow cast by a section of 46th Street just west of
Hiawatha, as if a portion of the street was rebuilt in anticipation of a bridge
over Hiawatha.
>
> Anyone recall this or other traces of the planned Highway 55 freeway planned
in the 1960s but never built? This little post by David Smith is interesting.
http://minneapolisparkhistory.com/tag/minnesota-trunk-highway-55/. Is there any
other official history of this project or the story of how it never came to
pass?

Rest of post

Shelly,
I really enjoyed your story of the neighborhood. You seem to have a gift for
writing.

Sent from my iPad

Nancy Olesen
<email obscured>

> On Feb 16, 2015, at 11:39 AM, Shelly Haagenson <<email obscured>>
wrote:
>
> We've lived in our house for 35 years, and face east along the Hiawatha
corridor, so that we see the earth berm and the noise wall along the train.
When we bought the property, a triangle of our front yard and the empty lots to
the north of us, as well as the land along the corridor, was owned by the State
of MN, because they were the ones who bought and cleared houses along the
corridor to make way for a freeway, I think in the late 50's? (This
information came to us through our neighbors who have now died, who lived along
the corridor when it was being cleared.) Apparently there was a plan for a
wide freeway, but it was stopped by people concerned that it would ruin the
creek and possibly the falls. For years there were new plans bandied about,
but no progress occurred until the early 1980's. Meanwhile, the lots that had
been cleared and not built on sat empty with post and chain fences around them
marking them as State land. And there was a "bridge to nowhere" at 46th St.,
approximately where the drainage pond is now on the west side of Hiawatha.
>
> In the early 80's, the current plan for Hiawatha Avenue was decided on, and
roadwork began. It was a more modest plan, so the state sold all land not
needed for the new right-of-way to the agency then known as MCDA, the
Minneapolis Community Development Agency, who gradually developed the newer
housing stock mixed in with the older homes that you now see at the north end
of every block. Some intersections were closed, such as the one at 44th St.
and Hiawatha. The bridge to nowhere was removed. The highway was built first,
then the dividing berm, then the train.
>
> Our little boys always had interesting construction equipment to watch, right
outside our door! The State was forced to buy some properties due to a
"Hardship Law", when people couldn't sell their houses because of the
uncertainty of the plan for the roadway. Those properties were rented out, but
the State was not set up to be a good landlord, and those properties gradually
deteriorated until they were knocked down. That was the case with the house to
the south of us, and when it went down we were able to buy half of the lot each
with our neighbors. A few years after we did that, the city council put an end
to that practice for tax reasons, and any remaining lots left over and owned by
the MCDA were developed into single or multi-family homes.
>
> Other interesting things: Before the road was actually built, older Hmong
refugees gardened the empty land, a small solace for the grief of having left
their way of life behind. The lots that weren't gardened weren't mowed very
often, so they looked pretty bad, but our kids loved to play in the grass as if
it were a "jungle". And when they got older, they would mow "basepaths" in the
grass and play baseball. It felt like a small slice of rural life in the city.
>
> I don't have any pictures of that bridge; it looked leftover and run down. I
always wondered, too, what it was supposed to do in the original plan.
>
> It will be fun to see what other memories come out of this thread! It's been
a great place to live and raise our family, and now we love what the train has
brought to the neighborhood.
>
>
>> On 2/16/2015 10:49 AM, Sam Newberg wrote:
>> Do any long-time residents of the area recall what 46th and Hiawatha used to
look like in the 1980s, prior to Hiawatha being rebuilt around 1990? Was an
embankment ever partially constructed at 46th in anticipation of a bridge over
Hiawatha? Anyone have a photo from what 46th and Hiawatha looked like in the
1980s?
>>
>> This aerial image from 1980 -
http://historicaerials.com/?layer=1980&;zoom=18&;lat=44.91953717915981&;lon=-93.21940183639526
- shows what looks like a shadow cast by a section of 46th Street just west of
Hiawatha, as if a portion of the street was rebuilt in anticipation of a bridge
over Hiawatha.
>>
>> Anyone recall this or other traces of the planned Highway 55 freeway planned
in the 1960s but never built? This little post by David Smith is interesting.
http://minneapolisparkhistory.com/tag/minnesota-trunk-highway-55/. Is there any
other official history of this project or the story of how it never came to
pass?
>>
>> Sam Newberg
>>
>> About/contact Sam Newberg: http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/sam
>>
>>
>> ――
>> View topic http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/4Xo22GAMwuh1bbIPcJv4AC
>> Leave group mailto:mpls-staneric@forums.e-democracy.org?Subject=Unsubscribe
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> Shelly Haagenson
> Standish-Ericsson, Minneapolis
> About/contact Shelly Haagenson:
http://forums.e-democracy.org/p/shellyhaagenson
>
>
> ――
> View topic http://forums.e-democracy.org/r/topic/3dWeDK2jL5PvRFEINcY6aI
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> Donate: http://e-democracy.org/donate?today
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Rest of post

This was supposed to be I-35 Central (between I-35W and I-35E.

But people tried to push for a different name because I-35C & I-35E would sound
so much alike when spoken. A name like I-35 Middle or I-35 Airport. But the
Federal DoT didn't much care -- they had their rules about how things were
named.

And besides, much of the neighborhood was busy trying to kill off the whole
freeway project entirely, not worrying about the name.

Historic Photos of Bridge/Embankment at 46th and Hiawatha

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Historic Photos of Bridge/Embankment at 46th and Hiawatha

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