Eight years later, Wakota Bridge expansion nears completion

Better late than never. Construction on the Wakota Bridge in Minneapolis is nearing completion, following numerous delays and eight years. The $300 million expansion to five lanes east and west is expected to reach completion in late July, about three years later than originally planned, according to a report from the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

"Hey, it's a happy day," Commissioner Myra Peterson told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "It's been a long haul."

Construction on the half-a-century-old bridge began in 2002 but was halted many times for several reasons, including the involvement of federal and state agencies, stress cracks on the concrete and a redesign.

The old bridge could not handle the congestion of 80,000 vehicles that traveled on it across the Mississippi River daily, but Peterson told the newspaper she predicts the same problems arising again within the next couple of decades.