35W Bridge: Geographical Clarification
For anyone that doesn’t live here and might be visiting having watched CNN or read the New York Times, I’d like to point out the following:
I-35W DOES NOT CONNECT MINNEAPOLIS AND ST PAUL. It connects downtown Minneapolis to northeast Minneapolis. I-35W runs north-south, albeit in a twisty sort of way. St. Paul is east of Minneapolis, and the two are connected by I-94.
See also: Eisenhower Interstate Highway System.
That is all.
If the US would spend LESS money trying to police the world (e.g. GET OUT OF IRAQ), then perhaps we’d have the $$$ to take care of our citizens (healthcare for all), and ensure the safety of all BRIDGES in America. Just a thought. How much money is this war costing the US a day…a month…a year???? How much will it cost to rebuild the bridge in Minneapolis??
Just found this blog and am very glad I did!
On something related to your post, thank you! I noticed some of the national news media commenting that the bridge connected Minneapolis and St. Paul and I kept wondering how they couldn’t have their facts straight.
Additionally, I-94 is the other highway bridge that crosses the Mississippi River. All the rest of the bridges are city streets.
I can’t believe how shoddy the national coverage of this has been.
I understand that a good chunk of the nation wasn’t able to point out Minnesota on a map before this, but would it be too much to ask for network news outlets to do a little fact checking before broadcast? Maybe learn a few names?
I remember reading the New York Times the morning after the collapse and just being stunned by such a basic error of fact on the front page. The thing is: if you’re a journalist writing a story, the first thing you typically do is dig through as many other press reports as you can so you can advance the story and get a sense of the basic facts. God only knows what kind of deadline-related snafu resulted in the Minneapolis/St. Paul snafu.
I had to clarify this to my mom who lives in Chicago and has driven over I-94, through St. Paul to visit here. She heard about 35W and thought– that doesn’t connect Minneapolis and St. Paul…
Thanks for clarifying that information. It’s nice to know someone can get it right, even if it has to be someone local.
It’s so surreal to see so much coverage of my neighborhood on national news, though. The other day I saw the NBC news truck over by the bridge as I was dropping off my rent and I couldn’t help but scream, “Oh my god, that’s where Brian Williams was reporting from yesterday!!”
I suppose I should further clarify in that technically the other side of the bridge from downtown, where the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus is, is considered “southeast Minneapolis” although it’s pretty much the east central section of the city, and very close to Northeast Minneapolis.