hanson boulevard bridge opens

The Hanson Boulevard railroad bridge officially opened August 4. This four lane bridge will help improve traffic flow for all residents, and especially improve the response time of first-responders. Senator Newton worked across parties lines to achieve this project and got the state to cover 50 percent of the costs through the bonding bill passed in 2017, which was signed by Governor Dayton.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on August 4 and Speaker of the Minnesota House Melissa Hortman had this to say at the ceremony:
        "This crossing had one of the highest potential rates for crashes to occur in the state due to the high traffic and high volume of trains. Trains would block the crossing from six to eight minutes, sometimes as much as 25 minutes... We needed our first responders to be able to get thorough to deal with health emergencies when people needed them to be there... This is a good example of how projects get done, people work together, they stick to it, and they keep at it even when it doesn't look like it's going to be successful."

Senator Newton had this to say at the ceremony.