Longtime roadie Kip Welborn of St. Louis went to Saturday’s dedication ceremony of the rehabbed McKinley Bridge, which connects Venice, Ill., to St. Louis. It’s open to pedestrian and bicycle traffic now, and vehicular traffic will be allowed by sometime in December.
The McKinley Bridge was built in 1910, and carried Route 66 from 1926 to 1930. It was closed in 2001 after it was deemed unsafe. More than six years and $52 million later, the bridge is about to open again to traffic. It’s estimated at least 10,000 cars a day will use it. And the towns of Venice and nearby Madison and Granite City are champing at the bit to have it open. They think it will provide a big shot to their economies.
Here’s a photo of the Salute to Steel sculpture in a roadside park near the bridge, on the Illinois side. It’s a tribute to the region’s steelworkers and its steel industry:
Here’s a photo of a close-up look of the steel bridge structure:
Welborn said this in the caption:
After the ribbon cutting, we got to cross the bridge … the truss is painted brown and you could still smell the paint … when I was crossing, I walked passed a guy who actually worked on the bridge … he was showing his son the screws he screwed in, the material he laid … he was so proud of what he did, and his son was so “wow” over what his dad had done … it was a great moment …
You can see more of Welborn’s photos here. I highly recommend you surf over there and check them out.
(Photos courtesy of Kip Welborn.)