Top 5 Ways to get from Superior to Duluth During the Blatnik Bridge Closure

Ahhh, summer.  The season of picnics, camping, beaches, vacations, and road construction.  For those who travel between Duluth and Superior, be prepared for a longer commute. 

The northbound lanes of Interstate 535 at the Blatnik Bridge will close Monday, May 14 and will remain closed until mid-summer.

The I-535 southbound lanes will remain open; however, motorists may encounter brief, single-lane closures.  The lane closures are necessary as work begins on a two-year preservation project designed to extend the life of the bridge.

The Highway 2 Bong Bridge may be used as an alternate northbound river crossing.

That may be a problem for some commuters.  For some, use of the Bong Bridge will add precious minutes to our daily drive.  That's why I've devised the "Top 5 Ways to get from Superior to Duluth During the Blatnik Bridge Closure."

1.  Jet Pack.

Sure, they haven't been invented for consumer use.  But it would be an awesome way to travel and see the world like birds do.

Chances are, if we could afford a jet pack we probably wouldn't even live in Superior.  We'd live on a private island in the Caribbean.  Scratch that one.

2.  Ferry Boat

Bayfield has one for those to travel back and forth from Madeline Island.  Long Island and Staten Island in New York have them for residents and tourists.  Why don't we have a Blatnik Ferry?

It would be a nice short ride.  But I guess we'd need a ferry boat, certified ferry boat captains, crew, etc.

Chances are the whole ferry process would add more time to the drive than using the Bong Bridge.  I guess a ferry boat wouldn't be an ideal way around the bridge closure, but it would be fun!

3. Doc Brown's DeLorean

If we made it up to 88 MPH in the DeLorean, we could just time travel to the future.  A few key strokes, some Plutonium, 1.21 Gigawatts and we could just beep-boop beep-boop our way to the future...skipping the entire 10 minutes and landing us at work!  We could avoid the commute all together!

Which sounds so awesome in theory.  But I'd do the same thing Biff did.

I'd get myself a Sports Almanac so I could place a few bets.  And buy that Caribbean Island.  Maybe not a great solution.

4. Transported Via Television

One of the greatest movies ever was my inspiration for this unconventional form of travel.  "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is one of the best movies ever made. (I love Johnny Depp, but his version of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" can't compare with Gene Wilder as Wonka.)

Ok.  I know it was a great concept from the Roald Dahl book made into a movie, but who didn't see that movie as a kid and wish we could do the same thing?  Sigh.  No television teleportation to get you across the bridge.

5.  The Richard I. Bong or the Oliver Bridge

Sigh.  Seems like we must give in to the ways of construction.  Just allow yourself enough time to bypass the Blatnik Bridge, and you'll all do just fine.

Happy Summer!