St. Paul's Kellogg-3rd Street Bridge welcomed walkers and cyclists back across its newly rebuilt span Saturday morning, nearly two and a half years after crews tore down the old crossing and started over. Vehicle traffic still has to wait, with the city anticipating cars won't roll across the 2,107-foot bridge until November 15. The reopening capped a project that shut the bridge down completely in July 2024 for a full demolition and rebuild.
According to twincities.com, the bridge now carries four lanes of vehicle traffic, two in each direction, flanked by 12-foot-wide shared trails on both sides for pedestrians and cyclists. The crossing serves as a major connector between downtown St. Paul and the city's East Side, threading over Interstate 94 and what the outlet described as one of the busiest railroad track junctions in the Midwest. As reported by CBS News, St. Paul city and state leaders marked the pedestrian opening with a ceremonial ribbon cutting Saturday.
St. Paul Public Works Director Sean Kershaw, per CBS News, called the project an enormous feat and said he was proud of the public works staff who made it happen. St. Paul City Council Member Cheniqua Johnson added that the community needs this kind of investment and that projects like the Kellogg Bridge are rare.
What's Left Before Cars Can Cross
The bridge deck rests on 12 piers and two abutments, with the tallest pier reaching 60 feet, the same twincities.com report notes. Before vehicles are allowed back on, St. Paul Public Works says crews still need to install railing in some locations, restore landscaping and finish other cleanup work. The city has pegged November 15 as the anticipated date for the bridge to fully reopen to vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists alike.
An earlier project announcement from Lunda Construction had pointed to substantial completion in fall 2027, a timeline that differs from the city's current November target; the dossier does not explain what changed between those estimates. A city project update dated September 17, 2026 said construction was nearing completion and the bridge was expected to open by November 15.
A Years-Long Rebuild Through Live Highway and Rail Traffic
Demolition of the old bridge began in August 2024 and took roughly seven months, wrapping up by March 2025, according to constructionequipmentguide.com. Two spans crossing over Interstate 94 came out during a single weekend highway closure in December 2024. The same outlet reports that the bridge's setting over two active freight railroads, BNSF and CPKC, meant beam installation had to be coordinated around both companies' schedules throughout construction.
The rebuilt crossing also carries new cultural elements: the construction trade report notes that local Native American artist Dyani White Hawk was commissioned to produce additional Dakota and Lakota art for the bridge.
Funding Figures Don't Fully Line Up
Securing money for the project took years, and the final price tag is reported inconsistently across sources. Per twincities.com, the overall project cost came to $92.7 million, while acppubs.com reported that Lunda Construction was awarded the replacement project for approximately $53.6 million, and constructionequipmentguide.com put the city's contract with Lunda at $55 million. The dossier does not reconcile these differing figures with one another.
Funding sources cited by yahoo.com include $7 million from a Federal Regional Solicitation grant, $52 million as a direct appropriation from 2020 state legislative bonds, $28.5 million from 2023 state legislative bonds, and $5.2 million in Municipal State Aid Street funds. City officials described the undertaking as the largest and most complex city-driven public infrastructure project since 1995, per the same report.
