Car burglaries at the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in north St. Louis got so numerous that Trailnet closed the parking lot on the bridge’s west side.
KTVI-TV in St. Louis now reports that car burglaries at the bridge that once carried Route 66 now have migrated to the parking lot on the east side, in Madison, Ill. The mile-long bridge over Mississippi River is now part of an extensive pedestrian and bicycle trail system.
The Roger Kramer Cycling blog notes that Trailnet has no intention of closing the parking lot on the Illinois side, and police are aggressively trying to stop the break-ins.
Instead, police are hoping cameras installed at the parking lot and help from the public will lead to the arrest of suspects in the break-ins. […]
For a while, Trailnet was able to provide security at the Missouri lot. But because of funding limitations, Trailnet last year closed the Missouri lot except for special events. People who want to approach the bridge from the Missouri side have to park in North Riverfront Park in St. Louis and bike or walk to the bridge.
If you do park on the Illinois lot, be sure to take your valuables with you while exploring the bridge or at least hide them out of sight if possible.
When we were there in 2006 on the Missouri side, we noticed 3 young men sitting in a car and waited until we got a good ways onto the bridge, before they got out and came toward us on the bridge. I felt very threatened, but fortunately there was a gentlemen that hadn’t left after he came off the bridge and could have thought something might be going to happen. We hastily made our way back and he watched us the entire time. As we left, the 3 young men turn around and go back toward their car. I felt this good samaritan may have saved us from something terrible happening, by his just making his presence known. It’s such a shame that you can’t enjoy the wonderful things, not only along the Mother Road, but anywhere these days without feeling threatened by such things.I hope the police apprehend whomever is breaking into these autos. This is too great an Icon on Route 66 to have this problem.
I hope the police will be able to apprehend the people who are breaking in