‘Ady’ no more: Erroneous highway sign in St. Paul gets temporary fix
The brief reign of “Ady Mill Road” in St. Paul came to an end overnight.
As of early Tuesday, Minnesota Department of Transportation crews had slapped a patch over the erroneous highway sign that had been installed along Interstate 35E last week, correcting the spelling of Ayd Mill Road.
MnDOT said the temporary patch will stay in place above the northbound lanes until a contractor can produce a new, permanent replacement for the sign. There’s no timeline for when that will happen.
The incorrect sign likely didn’t cause much confusion in its few days on display — signs right before and right after it continued to correctly spell Ayd Mill Road.
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But it was a source of some amusement, in part because of the complicated and controversial history of that road.
Ayd Mill Road runs north from I-35E to Selby Avenue — almost but not quite reaching Interstate 94. It’s been a source of neighborhood opposition for years. Some opponents didn’t want it connected to freeways. Some didn’t want it to exist at all.
There’s not even agreement on how to say it. The city pronounces it “eyed,” but many people say “aid.” And others still call it Short Line Road for the rail line that shares the corridor.
The street is named after John Ayd who built a house and mill in the area in the 1800s.