An dedication ceremony for the rehabilitated McKinley Bridge is set for 10:30 a.m. Nov. 17 on the Illinois side of the bridge, announced Kyle Anderson, assistant to the chief of operations of the Illinois Department of Transportation, on Tuesday.
After that, the bridge will be open to vehicular traffic for about four hours. The bridge will be closed to traffic again for another four or five days because of “weather and painting issues,” Anderson said, then a grand opening will be held. However, the bridge will remain open to pedestrians after Nov. 17, he said.
Also on Nov. 17 at 9:30 a.m., there will be a dedication to a park on the Illinois side of the bridge by the It Starts Here group. The park will include a five-story statue, called “Salute to Steel,” and an informational kiosk about the area’s steel-manufacturing history. You can see a photo of the partly finished statue on Page 2 of the Tri City Port newsletter (Acrobat file).
In case you’re having trouble opening the file, here’s an excerpt that shows the photo of the partially completed statue:
The McKinley Bridge, built in 1910, was closed to traffic in 2001 because of marked deterioration. It carried Route 66 from Venice, Ill., to St. Louis over the Mississippi River in one of the region’s many alignments.
When the bridge reopens, it will be a free bridge. It was a toll bridge for many years.
According to an earlier story this year by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “its center lanes will carry two lanes of vehicle traffic. The outside lanes will carry bicycles and pedestrians.”
I don’t know that this will really help the flow of traffic around St. Louis given the neighborhoods that surround the bridge’s eastern footing, but it’ll be nice for the adventurous to have another Mississippi River crossing, especially one with this much history.
Peter, the bridge is projected to see about 14,000 cars a day once it reopens. That’s hardly what I call insignificant.
And that probably will rise as the population rises in Madison County, Ill.
This thing was supposed to be done 2 years ago. Then they said an August opening, then September, then October, then November. This is completely ridiculous! Finish the darn bridge already!!
I attended the Dedication of the mckinnley bridge it was awesome to see what was done to restore instead of tearing down structures and build less superior in its place
When is the bridge going to be open to vehicle traffic?
IT,S OPEN!!!