Floodwaters from the Minnesota River have backed into Purgatory Creek in southeastern Eden Prairie, and the high flow has widened to form the stream’s own estuary. On Monday, June 24, Riverview Road disappeared under the high water, and the city blocked it off to car, bike, and pedestrian traffic between Parker Drive and Hennepin Town Road.
At about 9:20 a.m. Saturday morning, West Bloomington resident Michael Gonsalves stood with his bicycle, looking through the traffic barrier on the east side of the creek.
“I’m just trying to find any road where there’s is a path through,” he said. “This is the third spot that I have gotten to that’s underwater.”
Gonsalves, an IT employee with the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, was hoping to ride 30 miles. He chuckled some and figured that his trip might be a lot shorter. After checking out the rainforest-like scene at the edge of the flooded creek, he pedaled back to Hennepin Town Road. A mile push up a long hill would take him to Bluff Road or Pioneer Trail and flood-free routes west.
City of Eden Prairie announcements of road closures can be found here.
View MnDOT’s continually updated map of state and U.S. highways and bridges closed due to flooding here.
Editors note: Writer Jeff Strate is a founding EPLN board member.
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