Oct 7, 2008 7:05 pm US/Central
Motorists Worry About Guard Rails On 35W Bridge
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) ―
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The new guard rails are one of the most talked about parts of the new Interstate 35W bridge.
CBS
It's been about three weeks since the new Interstate 35W bridge opened to traffic. Many motorists have praised the overall design but there's one safety feature that's causing concern. The guard rails on the river sides of the bridge seem lower than on other freeway bridges, but it may just be an optical illusion.
"I thought it was very unsafe due to the fact that the bridge's railing is way too low," said Minneapolis resident Jen Mechelke. "That's the first thing I noticed."
"This does feel like it's too open and too low that you could just smack into it even with my truck and go right over," said Minneapolis resident Katy Norenberg.
The new guard rails are one of the most talked about parts of the new I-35W bridge.
"It seems like it's lower than like other railings on other bridges," said Norenberg.
Not true said the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The 2-foot, 8-inch railings meet the minimum height requirement for freeway bridges.
MnDOT said the bridge railings were specifically designed to be open so drivers can see the Mississippi River and falls down below.
The bridge's project manager said the guard rails meet national safety standards and only appear lower because they aren't solid concrete.
"I'd feel a lot safer if it was concrete because then you don't have that fear of actually, really going over," Norenberg said.
Joe Costello remembers seeing the old I-35W bridge go down.
"And just came down in sections, just rippled down," he said.
On Tuesday, he took his first trip over the new bridge.
"My heart is racing 100 miles an hour right now," said Costello. "That was tense, it was very tense. I purposely did not want to look down."
Costello noticed the guard rail going back the other direction over the bridge.
"If the engineers are content that the cars are going to bounce off it and not going to flip over, I would rather have that than have these high concrete barriers where you don't see anything," he said.
MnDOT said the concrete median, in the middle of the bridge, was built much higher than the guard rails to screen the glare from on coming headlights.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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