As a Minneapolis resident, the Interstate 35W bridge collapse hit rather close to home; approximately 2 miles from my home, as a matter of fact. The eight lane span collapsed just after 6pm on Wednesday, 1 August. It's very near downtown Minneapolis and the bustling University of Minnesota. To make matters worse, it happened during the peak of rush hour.

Over 140,000 cars drove across this bridge every day and it was Minnesota's 3rd busiest bridge. Nine people have been confirmed dead, while 4 individuals remain missing, and over 100 vehicles were involved. The remains of the bridge are in a horrible, twisted state, a mix of concrete, steel beams, reinforcement bars, motor vehicles, and train cars. Add to that several inches of rain falling over the past week making for high speed river currents in the US's biggest river. These factors are all making the rescue, recovery, and clean up painfully slow.

There is no question the collapse has had a profound effect on locals. Auto, train, water, and bicycle/pedestrian traffic have all felt the effects of this tragedy. Just about anyone you talk to in town knows someone who witnessed, is a survivor, victim, or rescue worker with this tragedy. It has also been in the news headlines of all of the major news organizations across the globe.

The bridge tragedy has also brought attention to other bridges across the country which may be in need of maintenance. In fact, over 70,000 bridges in the US are said to “structurally deficient” by the US Department of Transportation. As a result, many bridges have been shut down so that further inspection may be done.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has set a goal of completing a bigger 10 lane bridge by the summer of 2008, in one year's time based on a $250 million grant from the federal government. According to experts, this is a very quick timeline for cleanup and construction of the new bridge to occur in.

The City of Minneapolis has become a national leader in alternative means of transportation, and has done much to encourage transit via train, bus, bicycle, and car pooling. Minneapolis Mayor, R. T. Rybeck would like to see this new bridge offer include plans for a new commuter train track between Minneapolis and St. Paul, which is planned for the coming years. However, the Federal funding which has been granted may not allow for this important local element of the replacement bridge. There has been and will be much more debate on this between local and state government.