Project Details
Description
The City of St Paul will be replacing the Randolph Avenue bridge east of Shepard Road in 2030. The bridge crosses over Union Pacific Railroad tracks and provides access to many businesses and residents including Waterford Bay Apartments, River Bend Business Park, and Xcel Energy’s High Bridge Power Generating Plant.
Randolph Avenue is a dead-end road, ending at the High Bridge Dog Park. To minimize public impacts during construction, the City is committed to providing vehicle and pedestrian access during the bridge’s removal and reconstruction.
Location
Randolph Avenue between Shepard Road and James Avenue
Timeline
2026-2027 Design
2030 Construction
Bridge Background and Condition
Randolph Avenue Bridge No. 7272 carries Randolph Avenue and Sam Morgan Regional Trail over Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR). The existing steel beam bridge was built in 1959. Bridge geometry does not meet current clearance requirements to UPRR tracks, and has two piers located on UPRR right-of-way.
At the time of its construction, the bridge carried four-lane Shepard Road. Shepard Road followed the Mississippi riverbank between West Seventh Street and downtown Saint Paul. In the 1990’s, Shepard Road was realigned to its current position. The segment east of Shepard Road was renamed Randolph Avenue and was terminated with a cul-de-sac beneath the Smith Avenue (High) Bridge. When Sam Morgan Regional Trail was developed in the early 2000s, the south half of the bridge was converted to trail use. The north half of the bridge was used to carry Randolph Avenue (one lane in each direction).
The bridge is the sole access for regionally and locally important properties on dead-end Randolph Avenue, including Univar Solutions, Waterford Bay Apartments, the River Bend Business Park and Xcel Energy’s High Bridge Power Generating Plant.
City bridge crews have performed significant maintenance and repair actions on the bridge over the past decade. Despite these efforts, the bridge remains load posted due to overall condition of several structural elements. Randolph Bridge is inspected annually and has been structurally analyzed to ensure that it is capable of safely supporting the posted loads.
Public Works scoped an improvement project in 2022 and 2023, considering several alternatives including rehabilitation, partial reconstruction, and full reconstruction. The full reconstruction option was selected because replacement will provide the greatest functional benefit and satisfy current UPRR requirements for vertical and horizontal track clearances.