According to the historic marker, the Northern Pacific Railroad and the University of Minnesota worked to grade separate the U of M foot and vehicle traffic from street level rail traffic. A trench was dug through the U of M. Bridge #9 was built to connect this trench to downtown Minneapolis. Bridge #10 was built next to #9, but it was torn down after these two bridges were removed from service in 1981. Bridge #9 survived, and was reopened as a bicycle path in 2000.
The first river crossing in this area was opened in 1885. It was rebuilt in 1917. In 1922, the railroad was relocated to the north of the University Campus in a sunken trench. At that time, the old bridge was removed, and rebuilt on this new lower alignment. Bridge was remodeled in 1955, with the last train crossing in 1981.
Note that this bridge was closed between August 1, 2007 and August 21, 2007 while the recovery operation was ongoing at the site of the collapsed I-35W bridge. Construction work on the east bank of the river has resulted in the east end of this bridge remaining closed as of August 25, 2007.
