By Scott Shephard
14th Avenue NW Bridge Project
Those of us who were regular users of the old 14th Avenue bridge have no doubt gotten used to the detour required to get from points that are northwest of Watertown (the airport, Lake Kampeska, Florence etc.) You’ve had months to do so. But the bridge isn’t exactly “out of sight, out of mind,” — especially if you are going down the 14th Avenue hill. These days one can see the road closed sign and, since earlier this year, a huge pile of boulders. But it is hard to see the progress.
So I went up with my drone to get all of us a closer look. As you can see, the bridge deck concrete is in place. I don’t know enough about bridge building to know how much time is left before the road is re-opened. But we can hope that they are ahead of schedule and will beat the June/July opening estimate.
PS: When I was looking at this photo, I was thinking that this project would have been a mess if the Sioux River had flooded, as it has occasionally done. In the album below I’ve included images from April 13 & 14, 2023. Included also is a photo I took in November, 2025.
