Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has announced an agreement with the city of St. Louis to invest $40 million into renovating the 93-year-old McKinley Bridge.



The bridge, initially scheduled to reopen in early 2006 as a toll-free bridge, should now be ready for traffic by Summer 2007.



Closed since October 2001, renovation of the McKinley Bridge had been delayed until final financing details could be worked out.

Seems like kind of a b**** move to make Illinois pay for the whole thing, but whatever I don't pay taxes in either state.

It would take Missouri 20 years to come up with that kind of money.

repowers wrote:...that.... doesn't make sense. The Poplar went up in the 1960s. The McKinley's at least 40 years older than that.

You are right... the McKinley bridge is 95 years old, constructed in 1910. Originally built to carry local street cars to Granite City as well as interurban trains.

<A HREF="http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news ... ">McKinley Bridge Project to Begin</A>

Bill Raack, KWMU



ST. LOUIS, MO. (2005-03-24) Work to reopen the McKinley Bridge will begin next month and take about two years to complete. The Illinois Department of Transportation announced Thursday that a contract to repair the span between north St. Louis and Venice, Illinois has been awarded to a Springfield, Illinois, construction company.



<A HREF="http://publicbroadcasting.net/kwmu/news ... _ID=753834">>>> read more</A>



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<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... 6414">Work is set for McKinley Bridge</A>

By Elisa Crouch

Of the Post-Dispatch

03/24/2005



The transformation of the closed McKinley Bridge into a working span is scheduled to begin this spring, offering hope that the rush-hour crawl across the Mississippi River will pick up speed by 2007.



The $44.6 million rehabilitation project will involve removing and replacing the bridge approaches and the bridge deck, Illinois transportation officials said Thursday. Crews will repair the center span and rebuild a cantilevered section that will carry pedestrians across the river. Halverson Construction Co. of Springfield, Ill., is expected to spend about two years doing the work.



<A HREF="http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... CF00166414">>>> read more</A>

Just to toss this idea out there:

Why is Illinois pouring all of this Money into the McKinley Bridge? If the problem was that the bridge was not connected into I-70, then why not use either simply the site or maybe even the piers of the bridge to build a new Mississippi River bridge. This would combine the other fancily designed new Mississippi Bridge into the McKinley Bridge project. It would cost substantially less and meet the same needs. Seems like a waste too me. Does anyone know if the piers of a bridge can be reused too build a new span on the old piers? If it can be done, bridges like the MacArthur Bridge and MLK Bridge offer lower cost methods of building the new spans across the river that both states clearly want to spur development in the city and on the Illinois side.

A bridge with any more lanes like is needed would not be able to use the piers. They are not wide enough for one, and probably would not hold up to the stress of interstate traffic either.

The site of the McKinley bridge was suggested as a possible corridor for the new Mississippi River Bridge, however, it wasn't approved as we all know. To me it makes more sense since the current proposed location of the bridge is at a horrible spot for barge traffic. Since barges turn so wide, the proposed MRB location only permits one pier in the river(close to the Missouri side) which drives up the cost. At least the rehabbed McKinley will have bike lanes and no tolls.



Don't count on the McArthur opening to vehicular traffic since its owned by the TRRA, and they won't allow it.

Just so you know, the new i-70 bridge doesn't have any piers in the water, unless of course it is flooding.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the McKinley Bridge is almost halfway through its renovation with work scheduled to be finished in September 2007. When it opens, it will no longer be a toll bridge and will only carry one lane of traffic in each direction in the center lanes. Only bicycles and inspection vehicles will be allowed to use the outside lanes.



source

Walkway along McKinley Bridge will connect trails in St. Louis and Metro East

By Benjamin Poston

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

08/05/2006



The Great Rivers Greenway District conducted a tour Saturday of the McKinley Bridge reconstruction.

(JERRY NAUNHEIM JR/P-D)



As David Fisher walked alongside the McKinley Bridge Bikeway Saturday morning, he breathed in the warm air and savored a view of the Mississippi River and downtown.



"It is a joy," said Fisher, executive director of the Great Rivers Greenway District, which is developing the bike path and pedestrian walkway. "The symbolic thing is that it's reaching across the river - it really makes you understand the relationship between the river and the city."



The 14-foot-wide path is slated to open in September 2007, the same time that vehicular traffic resumes on the bridge. The path will connect St. Louis' Riverfront Trail to Metro East's Confluence Trail.



St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay and Illinois park officials toured the bridge Saturday morning.

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"I'm looking forward to pulling out my bike, dusting it off and riding across this someday soon," Slay said, praising the project.



On the Missouri side, the path will connect with the Branch Street Trestle, planned as a promenade with hanging plants and water fountains, and then link to the Riverfront Trail. The elevated steel trestle is part of an abandoned rail corridor from the river to downtown. Like the High Line in New York City and the Promenade Plantee in Paris, St. Louis will become the third city in the world to convert an elevated railroad viaduct into an urban recreation area, Fisher said.



In Illinois, the path will meet the Confluence Trail, a Madison County path on the levee that runs north to the Chain of Rocks Bridge.



The four-lane McKinley Bridge closed in 2001 and the Illinois Department of Transportation, Great Rivers Greenway District and the Metro East Park and Recreation District have collaborated to redevelop the bridge and incorporate the pedestrian and bike path.



MORE

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/news/s ... enDocument

I took some photos a couple weeks back of the McKinley Bridge and Branch Street Trestle. Work is still on track to be complete by late Sept. or early Oct.

The adjoining bike path will open around the same time.





Close-Up





Merchant's Bridge in background





Looking into Illinois





Branch Street trestle

http://www.greatrivers.info/AboutUs/Events.aspx



Bike St. Louis to

Venice at Sunset

Celebrate The Grand Opening

of The McKinley Bridge Bikeway

3,000 ft. long suspended trail

over the Mississippi River

August 25, 2007, 6:30-8:00 p.m.*

The Great Rivers Greenway District

www.greatrivers.info

314-436-7009

* Sunset at 7:42 p.m.

Officials look with hope to reopening of McKinley Bridge

By Adam Jadhav — ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH (6/03/2007)



VENICE — Sometime this fall, almost six years after the McKinley Bridge was deemed unsafe and shuttered by Illinois, the span is expected to once again connect Madison County to north St. Louis.



If construction crews keep to their projected reopening date of Sept. 25, the bridge will have been closed exactly 2,156 days — far too long for officials in Granite City, Madison and Venice.



Their eagerness to see the bridge reopen was evident as more than 60 officials, business people and residents gathered at a groundbreaking Friday morning for a park at the eastern foot of the bridge in Venice.



Read More

Bike St. Louis to

Venice at Sunset

Celebrate The Grand Opening

of The McKinley Bridge Bikeway

3,000 ft. long suspended trail

over the Mississippi River

August 25, 2007, 6:30-8:00 p.m.*

The Great Rivers Greenway District

Cancelled on account of paint.



http://www.mayorslay.com/desk/display.asp?deskID=741

McKinley Bridge will reopen Nov. 17



Public can walk across, take a look

BY BRIAN BRUEGGEMANN

News-Democrat



VENICE --

A dedication ceremony has been scheduled Nov. 17 for the renovated McKinley Bridge across the Mississippi River, and highway officials hope to have it open to traffic by then.



Illinois Department of Transportation spokesman Kyle Anderson said a date was set for a ceremony because of the planning required for the event. He said if the span is not yet open to traffic at that time, "it's going to be close to the 17th. The ceremony will begin at 9:30 a.m."



"We decided to pick a day," he added. "If it's open that day, it's open. If not, it will be open in the near future."



Gov. Rod Blagojevich is scheduled to attend the dedication, and about a thousand invitations have been sent to area businesses, civic organizations, municipalities and others. The public is welcome to attend.



If the bridge is opened to traffic before Nov. 17, it will be shut down during the dedication because the ceremony will be held on the bridge, Anderson said. People who attend will be able to walk across the bridge for an up-close view.



Link to Article

Maybe opening in December???

McKinley Bridge dedicated, will open next month

By Aisha Sultan

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

11/18/2007



VENICE — A band of politicians and state workers led a crowd of hundreds onto a newly rebuilt McKinley Bridge on Saturday morning. They hailed the forthcoming reconnection between southwestern Madison County and St. Louis as way to revitalize the struggling steel-making region and transform the public's perception of it.



"It's a phoenix rising out of the ashes of the Rust Belt," said state Sen. Bill Haine, D-Alton, at the dedication ceremony.



It's another chapter in the bridges of Madison County, he joked later. But the McKinley certainly has its own troubled, storied past.



The 97-year-old bridge was shut down six years ago when the Illinois Department of Transportation deemed it too dangerous for motorists. Open holes in the deck exposed the river below, and potholes marked the mile-long pass. After a $52 million overhaul, the bridge will be safe and open for use by the at least 10,000 daily motorists, beginning next month, officials said. It will include a paved cantilever roadway along the north side of the bridge for pedestrians and bicyclists.

Read it all

The opening date has been set for Monday, December 17.



Wait over: McKinley Bridge to reopen

By Rick Pierce

ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH

12/14/2007



VENICE -- The McKinley Bridge is expected to reopen to vehicle traffic on Monday, weather permitting, Illinois transportation officials have announced.



About 10,000 cars per day are expected to use the bridge. That's about the same number that used it before it was closed six years ago and rebuilt at a cost of $52 million.



Link to Article