Principal Investigator(s):
David Levinson, Former U of M Professor, Civil, Environmental and Geo-Engineering
Project summary:
This project analyzes the travel demand implications of three potential staging scenarios for replacement of the Saint Croix Bridge over the Saint Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota and Wisconsin. The first staging scenario tests construction of a four lane divided bridge, as currently proposed. The second scenario replaces the existing Stillwater lift bridge in kind, with two lanes. The third scenario closes the existing Stillwater lift bridge without replacement. The first scenario is anticipated to improve traffic conditions in Stillwater, but will be the costliest. The third scenario will be the least expensive. This research project will estimate vehicle-hours of travel (VHT) and vehicle-miles of travel (VMT) over an influence area, as well as the quality of operations on specific neighboring river crossings and network links, under each scenario. In this way, the overall impact to road-users of each scenario will be quantified. The results will be compared and interpreted to determine whether one scenario is preferable to the other.