A trustworthy Route 66 source wrote on his Facebook account that a Missouri Department of Transportation official told him off the record that the endangered Route 66 Bridge at Route 66 State Park near Eureka will not be torn down in 2010, as had been widely expected.
MoDOT is hopeful another entity will take over the bridge and shore it up enough so it can be used as a pedestrian bridge. Trailnet’s use of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in north St. Louis is such an example. The state is negotiating with the Department of Tourism, Department of Natural Resources and other groups to see whether something can be done.
However, if nothing happens to the bridge in the next couple of years or so, the MoDOT official says the state will have no choice but to tear it down because of its unsafe condition.
So the Route 66 Bridge gets a temporary reprieve, but the clock is ticking.