Timothy James Pawlenty is an American attorney, businessman, and politician who served as the 39th governor of Minnesota from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, Pawlenty served in the Minnesota House of Representatives from 1993 to 2003, and as House Majority Leader from 1999 to 2003. He unsuccessfully ran for the Republican presidential nomination in the 2012 presidential election.
Minnesota State Highway 36 (MN 36) is a 21.718-mile-long (34.952 km) highway in the U.S. state of Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate 35W (I-35W) in Roseville and continues east to its eastern terminus at the Wisconsin state line, where it becomes Wisconsin Highway 64 (WIS 64) upon crossing the St. Croix River at the St. Croix Crossing bridge. MN 36 is a major freeway in suburban Minneapolis–Saint Paul from its western terminus to its intersection with MN 120, at which point it becomes an at-grade expressway.
Raymond Thomas Rybak Jr. is an American politician, journalist, businessman, and activist who served from 2002 to 2014 as the 46th mayor of Minneapolis. In 2001, Rybak, endorsed by the Minneapolis Police Federation, defeated incumbent mayor Sharon Sayles Belton by a margin of 65% to 35%, the widest margin of victory over an incumbent mayor in city history. He took office in January 2002, and was reelected in 2005 and 2009. In December 2012, he announced that he would not run for another term and would concentrate on his family. Rybak called being mayor his "dream job".
The Minnesota Department of Transportation oversees transportation by all modes including land, water, air, rail, walking and bicycling in the U.S. state of Minnesota. The cabinet-level agency is responsible for maintaining the state's trunk highway system, funding municipal airports and maintaining radio navigation aids, and other activities.
The Stillwater Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge crossing the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota, and Houlton, Wisconsin. It formerly connected Minnesota State Highway 36 and Wisconsin Highway 64. Around 18,000 vehicles crossed the bridge daily. The new St. Croix Crossing bridge crossing the St. Croix river valley to the south of Stillwater replaced its purpose, having opened to highway traffic on August 2, 2017, leaving the Stillwater Lift Bridge to be preserved and to be converted to bicycle/pedestrian use.
Interstate 35E (I-35E) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Saint Paul. It is one of two through routes for I-35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being I-35W through Minneapolis. Thus, both ends of I-35E are shared with I-35W and I-35.
Interstate 35W (I-35W) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Minneapolis. It is one of two through routes for I-35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being I-35E through downtown Saint Paul.
Minnesota State Highway 280 is a 3.710-mile-long (5.971 km) highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota that travels from its Interchange with Interstate 94/U.S.Route 12/US Route 52 (I-94/US 12/US 52) in Saint Paul to its interchange with I-35W in Roseville.
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River one-half mile downstream from the Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The bridge opened in 1967, and was Minnesota's third busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily. After only 39 years in service, it experienced a catastrophic failure during the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The NTSB cited a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, noting that an excessively thin gusset plate ripped along a line of rivets. Additional weight on the bridge at the time of failure was also cited by the NTSB as a contributing factor.
DeSoto Bridge was a trussed deck-arch bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in St. Cloud, Minnesota. It was built in 1958 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The bridge was painted black, which is typical for railroad bridges but unusual for a highway bridge. The river banks on either side are relatively high, so the bridge required deep trusses which arched over the river.
The Sauk Rapids Bridge was a steel spandrel braced arch bridge that spanned the Mississippi River between the cities of St. Cloud and Sauk Rapids in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It was built in 1942 and was designed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation. The bridge consisted of three spans supported by two piers. It crossed the Mississippi River one-half mile (0.8 km) downstream from the rapids of the Sauk River. The river is still rough and fast-flowing at this location.
Minnesota State Highway 11 is a 209.971-mile-long (337.916 km) highway in northwest and north-central Minnesota, which runs from North Dakota Highway 66 at the North Dakota state line and continues east to its eastern terminus at the community of Island View on Dove Island, near International Falls.
Minnesota State Highway 43 is a highway in southeast Minnesota, which runs from its intersection with State Highway 44 in Mabel and continues north to its northern terminus at the Wisconsin state line at Winona, where it becomes Wisconsin Highway 54 upon crossing the Mississippi River.
Margaret Anderson Kelliher is an American politician, Director of the Minneapolis Department of Public Works, former Commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, and a former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. A member of the Minnesota Democratic–Farmer–Labor Party, she represented District 60A, which includes portions of the city of Minneapolis in Hennepin County, located in the Twin Cities metropolitan area. First elected in 1999, she served until 2011, also serving as the Speaker from 2007 to 2011. She is the second woman to hold the position of House speaker. She was an unsuccessful candidate for the DFL nomination for Governor of Minnesota in the 2010 gubernatorial election, losing to former Senator Mark Dayton. Anderson left the Minnesota House of Representatives at the conclusion of her term in 2011 and re-entered politics when she ran for the DFL nomination to the U.S. House of Representatives in Minnesota's 5th congressional district in 2018, losing to Ilhan Omar. Since 2019 Kelliher, has worked in transportation management roles for the government, first as Commissioner of MnDOT, and later as Director of Public Works for the city of Minneapolis.
The Metro Orange Line is a bus rapid transit line in the Twin Cities, Minnesota operated by Metro Transit. The line operates primarily along Interstate 35W from downtown Minneapolis through Richfield and Bloomington before terminating in Burnsville, Minnesota. The Orange Line provides access to 198,000 jobs with roughly a quarter of them outside downtown Minneapolis. The route serves a mix of stations located in the center of the highway, stations near highway exits, and on-street stations. The line has features typical of bus rapid transit systems with off-board fare payment, articulated buses with extra doors, stations with improved passenger amenities, and transit-only bus lanes on portions of the route.
Minnesota State Highway 62 (MN 62) is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota. The route was part of County Road 62 (CR 62) until 1988, when a portion of the route was inherited by the state. The western terminus of the highway is at Interstate 494 (I-494) in Eden Prairie, where the roadway continues west as CR 62 to CR 101. The eastern terminus of the route is at the junction with I-494 in Inver Grove Heights. Locally, the original portion of the route in Hennepin County is known as "the Crosstown Highway" or simply "the Crosstown," though signage with this name does not appear on the highway itself, but only on local streets adjacent to the road. It is also used as an alternate name, even by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The route is 18.6 miles (29.9 km) in length.
The I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge crosses the Mississippi River one-half mile downstream from the Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota in the U.S., carrying north–south traffic on Interstate 35W. The ten-lane bridge replaced the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, which collapsed on August 1, 2007. It was planned and is maintained by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT). The planning, design, and construction processes were completed more quickly than normal because Interstate 35W is a critical artery for commuters and truck freight. The bridge opened September 18, 2008, well ahead of the original goal of December 24.
Ron Erhardt is a politician from the U.S. state of Minnesota and former member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. He represented District 49A, which included most of Edina in Hennepin County.
Michelle Louise Helene Fischbach is an American attorney and politician who is the U.S. representative from Minnesota's 7th congressional district. The district, which is very rural, is Minnesota's largest by area and includes most of the western part of the state. A Republican, Fischbach served as the 49th lieutenant governor of Minnesota from 2018 until 2019. As of 2024, she is the last Republican to have held statewide office in Minnesota.
The 2018 Minnesota gubernatorial election took place on November 6, to elect the 41st Governor of Minnesota as incumbent Democratic (DFL) Governor Mark Dayton chose not to run for re-election for a third term. The Democratic nominee was U.S. Representative Tim Walz from Minnesota's 1st congressional district while the Republican Party nominated Hennepin County commissioner Jeff Johnson for a second consecutive time. The Independence Party of Minnesota did not field a candidate for the first time since 1994. Going into the election polls showed Walz ahead; the race was characterized as lean or likely DFL.
