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Near Silver Bay looking southwest.
In the distance you can see work begining on the Gitchi-Gummi
bicycle trail which will re-use much of the old road
grade.
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Near Tofte looking northeast, where
a section of the original pavement remains behind the barrier
(note the fieldstones in addition to the sign). In the coming years
this abandoned segment will also be torn up to make way for the
bicycle trail.
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Section of the North Shore Drive by
Silver Creek Cliff, probably from the '40s to '50s. This section epitomized
what was right and wrong with the old road, in that it was spectacularly
scenic, but also became dangerous with higher traffic and increased speeds
in later years. When it came time to rebuild the road away from the lake,
there was no place to go but into the rocks, and so they blasted the Silver
Creek Cliff Tunnel, which is spectacular in it's own way.
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In an almost perpetual project,
Mn/DOT has been reconstructing the famous MN 61, turning
a scenic and dangerous road into a dull and safe one.
The new alignment is generally more inland than the old,
up to a block father. In the process, some of the old
road has been left for local access, but most has been simply
removed.
There is a long term plan for a bicycle trail along the North Shore
Drive, and much of the routing will be over the abandoned stretches of
the highway. Although some history will be lost, more will be preserved
as this provides a place to move a 130 year old bridge presently near Silverdale.
The bridge, probably the oldest on the trunk highway system, will be moved
under a seperate 1.5 million dollar contract once the new bridge is complete
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