City closes pedestrian bridge after recovery workers complain

(AP) - The public got its best view in weeks of the Interstate 35W bridge collapse on Wednesday when the city briefly opened a nearby pedestrian bridge, but the bridge was soon closed after recovery workers called the move disrespectful to families of those still missing.

Mayor R.T. Rybak said he reversed his decision to open the bridge because the recovery effort was picking up steam after a few days where Navy divers were slowed by rapid river currents brought on by stormy weather.

Hennepin County Sheriff Rich Stanek had opposed opening the pedestian bridge. Victims' families "do not want to see another picture of a body bag in a newspaper," said Kathryn Janicek, the sheriff's spokeswoman.

"As you know, Mr. Mayor, we are actively working to recover victims from the site and return them to their loved ones," Stanek wrote in an e-mail to Rybak Tuesday night. "Maintaining the dignity and respect for the families of the missing has been my primary concern. We request that this bridge remain closed until recovery operations on the river bottom are complete."

According to a spokesman, Rybak felt it important to give the public a better view of the remains of the bridge, which collapsed Aug. 1, killing at least nine people. Four are still known to be missing.

It previously had been best viewed from an upstream pedestrian bridge, the Stone Arch Bridge, that is significantly farther away. The bridge that was opened briefly is just 1,000 feet away from the collapse site.

The city has attempted to "strike a balance between finding ways to give the broader community a chance to pay respects and better understand what happened, while protecting the privacy and dignity of those lost and yet to be found," said Rybak's spokesman, Jeremy Hanson.

The bridge will remain closed until the recovery of bodies is complete, Hanson said.

Divers were back in the Mississippi River Wednesday. Randy Mitchell, a spokesman for the operation, said divers were helping with debris removal and looking for the best ways to enter and search sunken vehicles around the collapse.

From the re-opened bridge, which connects University of Minnesota campuses on both sides of the river, a piece of heavy equipment with a large set of jaws could be seen picking up pieces of rebar, steel beams and other debris and depositing them onto a barge.

By midafternoon, a growing crowd had gathered to see the new view.

"It's a much better view. It's unbelievable," said Debbie Rouvik of Cottage Grove, who brought her 8-year-old son Garrett.

"This is just overwhelming ... I can't believe metal can fold like this," she said.

Even as spectators got a new view of what happened, a few survivors of the crash were honored for their heroism. First Student, the company that owned the school bus that became an iconic image of the tragedy, held a ceremony where they presented $5,000 checks to four adults credited with preventing the death or serious injury of about 60 kids on the bus.

Bus driver Kim Dahl, who a company official said had the presence of mind to jam on the parking brake and possibly prevent the bus from sliding off the bridge into the river, made her first public comments since the collapse.

"I don't feel like a hero," Dahl said. "I think anybody in the situation would do the same thing."

Jeremy Hernandez, who also was honored for helping the kids get off the bus, said he had decided to accept an offer of free tuition from Dunwoody College of Technology, which he previously hadn't been able to afford. Hernandez plans to become an auto mechanic.

State legislators were scheduled Wednesday afternoon to get their first chance to comment on the state Transportation Department's preliminary designs for a replacement of the fallen bridge. MnDOT's plans call for a 10-lane bridge, two lanes wider than the original bridge, that would be designed to last 100 years.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

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