The Lowry Avenue Bridge across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis has been permanently shut down because of safety concerns.
Many locals call it the 'singing bridge'. Friday morning, it went silent.
"When you're going over it, your tires are singing along and then that bridge is making a strange sound," says Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein.
It's been that way for more than a hundred years on the Lowry Avenue Bridge. Built over the Mississippi River in 1905, the bridge was named for local pioneer Thomas Lowry, architect of the city's streetcar system. At a time when river commerce was booming and both sides growing, Minneapolis needed a connection.
"Rivers are obvious obstacles to moving people around the city," says Stenglein.
In 1958, the original bridge's superstructure was removed and the whole thing raised 20 feet to allow barge and tow boat traffic.
And while Lowry, through the years, has been a connector with some 15,000 vehicles crossing over it each day, it has also at times been a divider between two culturally diverse parts of town - north and northeast
"Both areas were settled ethnically. In northeast, Europeans came in from France and Germany and the Poles came in after WWI. Predominantly white. And the north side was predominantly African American," says Stenglein.
The bridge has a unique history and for Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein who is spearheading the project to replace it, the Lowry Avenue Bridge means even more.
"I remember fond memories as a young, young boy looking out the car window and seeing the river down below," says Stenglein. "It is a little bit sad to see it go. I was talking to a friend of mine this morning and he said well you're gonna shut the old lady down. I said yah. It's time to put her to bed."
The Lowry Avenue Bridge is shut down because of safety concerns.
Engineers say one of the bridge's piers is tilting and they don't expect it to get any better. Officials are also concerned about how the piers would handle the coming hot weather.
The Lowry Avenue Bridge will remain closed until a new one is built by 2011
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