DULUTH, MN. -- With an upgrading project now almost complete, vehicular traffic will move normally again this week on a historic Canadian National Railway bridge in Duluth, Minnesota.
CN has spent several million dollars strengthening the Oliver Bridge which crosses the St. Louis River and links Minnesota with Wisconsin.
The bridge was built in 1910, just two years after Thunder Bay's James Street Bridge was constructed.
Both structures were built with swing components to allow boats to pass beneath.
Automobile traffic has been banned on CN's Thunder Bay bridge for the past four years as the result of a fire which the railway says made the bridge unsafe for cars and trucks, but not for trains.
The City of Thunder Bay wants to force CN to repair and reopen the crossing. The case goes to the Ontario Court of Appeal in early 2018.
Unlike the single-deck James Street Bridge, the Oliver Bridge has an upper deck that carries trains, and a lower deck that carries a state highway.
A spokesperson for CN told tbnewswatch.com that although the recent upgrades to the Duluth bridge did not include the roadway portion, the railway is obligated to maintain the road under an agreement with Minnesota and Wisconsin.
A representative of the Minnesota Department of Transportation said the state contributed to the cost of building the bridge, and the railway pays for all maintenance costs.
