Online route maps and reality

I tried a few of the online maps to route me from south of the Mississippi River to north of the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

I tested the mapping services from Google, Yahoo, Ask, and Mapquest. Yahoo and Mapquest have updated their map information to take the damaged I-35W bridge into account. Google and Ask.com both try to route me over the Mississippi via the now missing bridge. Click on the map to see all of the screen caps from the various online maps.



Always verify the accuracy of computer generated routes with reality checks!

Other Minneapolis transportation news

Minneapolis / St Paul Metro Transit is offering free rides next week from select Park & Ride lots. Metro Transit will also deploy extra buses to deal with anticipated demand.

Minneapolis bicycle blogs

Update: According to Bike Boldly, numerous bikeways and bike access to bridges have been indefinitely closed due to the I35W bridge collapse. The city of Minneapolis announced these road and bridge closures that impact cyclists:

WEST RIVER PARKWAY
Closed between 13th Ave S to 1st St S
Local access only between 11th Ave and 13th Ave S
Local access between 4th St and 1st St S

2nd STREET SE
Closed between 8th Ave SE to 11th Ave SE
Local access between 3rd Ave SE and 8th Ave SE
Local access only on 11th Ave SE between University Ave and 2nd St SE

STONE ARCH BRIDGE
Closed until further notice

BRIDGE #9 - DINKYTOWN BICYCLE CONNECTION
Closed until further notice

Minneapolis area bicycle bloggers comment on the bridge collapse.

• Old Bag: Tragedy too close to home.
  
• Brother Yam: Disaster Edition.
  
• Sascha: Holy Bridge Collapse, Batman!
  
• Ugly Bike: Whoa.
  
• Melo Velo: Why rebuild?
  
• Planetary gears: Thoughts on the highway collapse.
  
• Bonk: Speechless.

Other Minneapolis region blogging bikers of note:

• Lunatic Biker.
  
• Velocipete.
  
• City Girl.
  
• Surly
  
• I bike MPLS has posted several photos of the bridge collapse to his Flickr account.

135 mile Minnesota icebike race

The Arrowhead Winter Ultra is a human powered ultramarathon on bike, foot or skis, covering 135 miles across the Arrowhead Region of Northern Minnesota from International Falls near the Canadian border to Tower, MN. This news video features a cyclist with his Surly Pugsley and other good icebiking gear. The Arrowhead Winter Ultra begins this Monday. Read the Arrowhead blog here.