A new, wider Wakota Bridge opens in early July

A new, wider Wakota Bridge opens in early July

When Lyle Jacoby joined the Wakota Bridge Coalition, he envisioned driving his restored 1929 Ford Model A over a new river crossing.

That was 20 years ago.

‘We’re almost there,’ Jacoby, 76, of Inver Grove Heights said while standing on the bridge during a Minnesota Department of Transportation tour this month.

The two-span bridge, which carries Interstate 494 traffic over the Mississippi River between South St. Paul and Newport, is scheduled to be done in early July — nearly three years later than originally planned. Its final cost will hit nearly $114 million, almost twice the initial estimate.Read more