Klobuchar calls 35W bridge collapse a wake up call

35W bridge span
Construction on the Interstate 35W bridge.
MPR Photo/Brandt Williams

U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar says the new 35W bridge will be safer and more advanced than the one that collapsed more than a year ago.

The senator toured the bridge Sunday with officials from the Department of Transportation.

Klobuchar said the collapse of the 35W bridge was a wake-up call that it is time for the country to invest in its infrastructure.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, DFL-Minn.
MPR photo/Tom Weber

"When you look at what happened in Minnesota, people are citing it all over in the country as a reason to invest more in infrastructure and I think we need to do that. We are going to be having a hearing right when I get back in september over a bill that I have in the senate that congressman Oberstar has in the house to make sure that bridge funds are used appropriately to repair and inspect our bridges," Klobuchar said.

The old 35W bridge collapsed last August, killing 13 people and injuring 145.

Construction on the new span is months ahead of schedule. The new bridge is expected to open this September.

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