If you've never been to Minneapolis, you don't know that there's a long railroad "ditch" that transects most of the south part of the city from east to west. Just about every north-south street that crosses it has a two-lane bridge over it.
In the last 30 years or so, the ditch was converted — through citizen activism — to the Midtown Greenway bikeway, one of the premier off-road urban bike facilities in the U.S.
But how did that railroad ditch get there in the first place? (And why was Saint Paul left with a huge railroad divide through its middle that almost no north streets cross? Grrrr.)
This excellent historical article from streets.mn doesn't answer the Saint Paul question, but it does give the story of how the Minneapolis ditch came to be, with many photos to go with it.
Very cool! Thanks to Brian Mitchell for the research and writing.
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