Jump to content

McKinley Bridge

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

McKinley Bridge
The bridge in 2017
Coordinates38°39′54″N 90°10′58″W / 38.66500°N 90.18278°W / 38.66500; -90.18278
Carries1 dedicated service lane, 2 lanes of traffic, and 1 dedicated pedestrian/bicycle lane
CrossesMississippi River
LocaleSt. Louis, Missouri and Venice, Illinois
Maintained byIllinois Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignSteel truss bridge
Total length6,313 feet (1,924 m)
Longest spanThree - 519 feet (158 m) spans
Clearance below90 feet (27 m)
History
OpenedNovember 10, 1910; 114 years ago (November 10, 1910)
Pedestrian re-opening: November 17, 2007; 17 years ago (November 17, 2007)
Full re-opening: December 17, 2007; 17 years ago (December 17, 2007)
Statistics
Daily traffic17,000 (2014)[1]
Location
Map

The McKinley Bridge is a steel truss bridge across the Mississippi River. It connects northern portions of St. Louis, Missouri with Venice, Illinois. It opened in 1910, was taken out of service in 2001 due to disrepair, and reopened in 2007 after a major rehabilitation. Originally a combined interurban railway and vehicular bridge, it had become vehicular-only by 1978.

Description

[edit]

The bridge was named for its builder, William B. McKinley, chief executive of the Illinois Traction System interurban electric railway, which accessed St. Louis via the bridge; and not for President William McKinley.

The current alignment of the bridge carries two lanes of traffic on the inner lanes. The outer lane on the north side of the bridge will become[needs update] an exclusive service lane, while the outer lane on the south side of the bridge will become a sidewalk and bike path. It is expected to carry 14,000 vehicles across the river daily,[2] but total traffic across the river increased in 2014 by 7.4% over 2013 levels, and in April 2014, it was estimated that 17,000 vehicles use it daily.[1]

The bridge is accessible from Illinois Route 3 in Illinois, and from the intersection of Salisbury and North 9th Street in the city of St. Louis.

History

[edit]

Construction and early history

[edit]

The bridge was built by the Illinois Traction electric interurban railroad to cross the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois in 1910. Its designer was Polish-American engineer Ralph Modjeski.[3] It was constructed by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. and Pennsylvania Steel Co.[4] The bridge was owned by the city of Venice, Illinois and operated as a toll bridge.[5]

When the U.S. Highway System was instituted in 1926, the McKinley Bridge then carried auto traffic on the famous Route 66 across the Mississippi River for four years, until the route was transferred to the Chain of Rocks Bridge to avoid downtown St. Louis.

The bridge carried both railroad and vehicular traffic across the Mississippi River for decades. By 1978, the railroad line over the span was closed, and an additional set of lanes was opened for vehicles in the inner roadway.

Rehabilitation

[edit]

After decades of disrepair due to the lack of toll revenues, the McKinley Bridge was closed in 2001.[2]

The state of Illinois attempted to provide money to the city of Venice for repairing the bridge, but was unable to do so because of the outstanding taxes owed by the city.[citation needed] As a result, the City of St. Louis foreclosed on the bridge, delaying reconstruction efforts further. In an agreement reached in June 2003, the states of Illinois and Missouri agreed to take over ownership of the bridge from the city of Venice.[6]

Rehabilitation began in 2004 and the original plans for the repairs anticipated a re-opening in late 2005.[6] However, the date was pushed back due to the addition of The Great Rivers Greenway Bikeway tie-in.

The rehabilitated McKinley Bridge consists of the three original river truss spans (Spans 26-29, 519 ft (158 m) long each) and thirty-three steel plate girder spans, with a length totaling 4,162.5 ft (1,268.7 m). The Bridge reopened to pedestrians and bicycles on November 17, 2007,[7] with a grand re-opening celebration.[8] It was fully reopened to vehicular traffic on December 17, 2007.[9]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b "IDOT: New bridge carrying less traffic than originally expected". Belleville News Democrat. April 14, 2014. Archived from the original on July 14, 2014. Retrieved July 5, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Jadhav, Adam (June 3, 2007). "Officials hope to reopening of McKinley Bridge". Retrieved July 12, 2007.[permanent dead link‍]
  3. ^ Glomb, Jozef; Peter J. Obst (Translator) (2002) (in English). A man who spanned two eras: The story of bridge engineer Ralph Modjeski. Philadelphia: Kosciuszko Foundation. ISBN 978-0-917004-25-4.
  4. ^ "McKinley Bridge". Bridgehunter.com. Retrieved May 28, 2020.
  5. ^ "State of Illinois Public Acts". Retrieved May 3, 2007.
  6. ^ a b Office of James F. Costello (June 16, 2003). "U.S. CONGRESSMAN JERRY COSTELLO PARTICIPATES IN ANNOUNCEMENT OF MCKINLEY BRIDGE BUYOUT". Archived from the original on October 31, 2008. Retrieved November 1, 2008.
  7. ^ "McKinley Bridge Opens To Pedestrians".
  8. ^ St. Amand, Amanda (October 21, 2007). "Be thankful: Next month, we'll have McKinley back". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Archived from the original on November 22, 2007. Retrieved October 22, 2007.
  9. ^ "McKinley Bridge reopens to traffic after $52 M renovation". December 17, 2007. Retrieved November 1, 2008.[permanent dead link‍]
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=McKinley_Bridge&oldid=1280369423"