Stillwater Bridge lift schedule ends for the season

The summer lift schedule for the Stillwater Lift Bridge has come to an end, so boaters who need to get under the span will have to make a special request 24 hours ahead of time, the Minnesota Department of Transportation says.

During the warm-weather season, the bridge maintains a lift schedule in which the bridge is raised at regular intervals during the day. But that ended at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday.

The two-lane, 1,050-foot span that takes Highway 36 over the St. Croix River from Stillwater, Minn., to Wisconsin will sit in the down position until spring. The lift schedule starts up again typically around May 15.

Construction on a new bridge, dubbed the St. Croix River Crossing project, that is to replace the 82-year-old Stillwater Lift Bridge less than a mile downriver began this year. That bridge is scheduled for completion in 2016.