Breaking Ground for the St. Croix River Crossing

Eighty-one years ago Amos Schultz remembers driving his brother's truck downtown to watch the grand opening of the Stillwater Lift Bridge.
Schultz, now 96, recalls July 1, 1931 as a beautiful day, with a steer roast by the Commander Building, bands marching across the new span and his friend Leo Klein, who celebrated the opening by climbing up on the railing of the new bridge—wearing bib overalls—and jumping off into the river.
On Tuesday, Schultz, a retired farmer, returned to the shadows of Lift Bridge to take in the official groundbreaking ceremony of the St. Croix River Crossing.
"It's time," Schultz said. "It may be overdue."
Former Stillwater Mayor Jay Kimble couldn’t agree more—and he too, has a few bridge stories to tell.
“I’ve spent more than half of my adult life working on getting a new bridge,” Kimble said.
Thirty-one years ago, Kimble decided to run for Stillwater City Council, and “my platform then was we need to do something to get this bridge off of dead zero.
Federal funds had been spent on the Eisenhower Freeway System, so there wasn’t any money, Kimble said, “but we were trying to do something then because it was damaging our town.”
The original stakeholders worked and worked and worked and almost got it done, Kimble said. After many meetings, the bridge was ready to go to bid in 1996, and it got stopped, but the group kept going and going.
“Jay kept this project on life support for a number of years,” Washington County Commissioner Gary Kriesel said.
When Kimble began his work in 1982, there were the same concerns then as there are today—congestion, vehicle exhaust destroying the ornate facades of the downtown buildings, air-quality issues and dangerous conditions for pedestrians
“How many pedestrians have been hit in this town over the decades?” Kimble said. “It’s not the right place for a bridge.”
Kimble said he has been working behind the scenes on the new St. Croix River Crossing Project for the last six years.
“I’ve continued to call Senators and Congressman I’ve known after many, many trips to D.C. on this issue,” Kimble said. “I just kept pushing and pushing and pushing.”
Now Kimble lives on the other side of the river.
“I’ve escaped to Wisconsin,” Kimble said, “and I’ll tell you it took me more than 20 minutes to get across this bridge today.”
Seeing the new bridge become reality is almost like a culmination of a life’s work, Kimble said.
“It’s very, very pleasing to me,” he said. “Quite honestly, it brings tears to my eyes.
“I’d like to see that bridge get built before I’m dead, and I might actually get to,” Kimble said. “It’s just a great feeling.”  
Click on the following links to view other short video clips from the groundbreaking ceremony:

• MnDOT Commissioner Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
  
• Stillwater Mayor Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Oak Park Heights Mayor Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Wisconsin Congressman Sean Duffy Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Wisconsin Congressman Ron Kind Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Minnesota Senator Amy Klobuchar Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking
• Breaking Ground for the St. Croix River Crossing (Video)
• Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin Speaks During St. Croix River Crossing Groundbreaking