City Council Meeting Date: February 10, 2026
To: Mayor and City Council
City Administrator
From: David E. Bennett, PE - Public Works Director/City Engineer
Title
Consider Resolution requesting MnDOT provide safety solutions for Walking and Biking at grade and below the upcoming 2032 Trunk Highway TH-3 Bridge Replacement over the Cannon River and 2033 TH-3 Bridge Replacement over the Railroad.
Body
Action Requested:
The Northfield City Council approves Resolution requesting MnDOT provide safety solutions for Walking and Biking at grade and below the upcoming 2032 TH-3 Bridge Replacement over the Cannon River and 2033 TH-3 Bridge Replacement over the Railroad.
Summary Report:
At the July 2025 Northfield Transportation Advisory Committee (NTAC) meeting, MnDOT presented two upcoming bridge replacement projects in Northfield. In 2032 the TH-3 Bridge Replacement over the Cannon River and 2033 the TH-3 Bridge Replacement over the Railroad. MnDOT is currently in the preliminary design/project scoping layout phase. These two bridges are critical infrastructure that service Northfield and our regional transportation.
It is critical that these bridge replacement projects meet our local and regional transportation needs. Bridges only get replaced 50-75 years, so it is important that these replacements not only address motor vehicles, but other transportation choices. These bridge replacement projects cannot be done in a vacuum, they need to look holistically along the corridor and the land-use context and how it connects, and what the future corridor could look like.
TH-3 is a significant barrier in our community for people to cross to access the east and west sides of our community. It is imperative that we collaborate with MnDOT to ensure well-functioning bridges are built that address walking/biking at grade level and below grade for the east/west community connectivity.
The attached Resolution requests the City Council to...
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