Improvements planned for the Lafayette Bridge in St. Paul

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A dangerous bridge with traffic jams is in for a major change.

The Highway 52 Lafayette Bridge in St. Paul spans the Mississippi River just east of downtown. Motorists heading north via the bridge will arrive at an interchange with four route options, but there are only three lanes.

“That middle lane there is stopped right at the top,” said Dudley Ray of St. Paul.

The center lane is the lane for motorists heading to both northbound Interstate 35E and westbound Interstate 94.

The line to the ramps becomes so bad that it becomes very difficult to cross to the other side.

“It’s impossible,” Ray said. ‘You can not do that. If you’re in the right lane, you’re better off going east. If you’re in the left lane, you better go west.”

Ray says he’s trying to avoid the bridge altogether.

Chris Bower, an engineer with the Minnesota Department of Transportation, said traffic issues on the bridge are a priority for the department.

MnDOT has tried smaller solutions like signs and sidewalk markings, but they haven’t worked.

“There are issues with people merging late, people rear-ending and a lot of accidents just related to the imbalance of traffic demand in the different lanes over the bridge,” Bower said.

A state study found that the number of accidents on the bridge has tripled since the bridge was redesigned in 2015.

“Last week they had a three-car accident,” said Michael Mitchell, a West St. Paul resident who drives over the bridge every day. “A whole car went over the middle of the road.”

MnDOT says it is still working out the details, but it plans to eventually add a lane so motorists have two lanes for the two freeway ramps.

“By creating an additional ramp to split that traffic in half, we think we can reduce congestion, reduce delays in the middle and really solve the crash issues that we’ve seen at the interchange,” Bower said.

Bower says the improvements won’t require redoing the entire bridge.

“We’re really looking forward to coming up with some long-term solutions,” he said.

If you would like to share feedback or thoughts about the project with MnDOT, click here.