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RCGAction
The Monthly Newsletter
and Planning Calendar of the St. Louis RCGA
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Illinois
and Missouri Officials Jointly Announce Dramatic Design for New
Mississippi River Bridge
In a joint news conference in mid July at the Regional Collaboration
Center at the RCGA, members of the bi-state Congressional delegation
and leaders of both the Illinois and Missouri Departments of Transportation
announced the dramatic design (www.newriverbridge.org) for the new
Mississippi River Bridge downtown.
Securing funding for the long-proposed new bridge has been a top
legislative priority for the RCGA, Forward Metro St. Louis and was
one of the major issues brought forth to Congress during the RCGA’s
annual Washington Leadership Trip.
Without the bridge, which would be located just north of the Martin
Luther King Bridge, traffic conditions in the Poplar Street Bridge
Corridor will continue to worsen. Currently, congestion lasts for
11/2 hours in this bridge corridor, where the average delay is 10
minutes per vehicle. Without the bridge, congestion will last for
three hours in the year 2020, with an average delay of 55 minutes
per vehicle. The core of the St. Louis region needs a functional
roadway infrastructure to be able to compete with other regions
throughout the nation.
With significantly mounting congestion and more accidents, St. Louis
and Metro East will not be able to sustain new growth and development.
The announcement for a new design is a pivotal step forward in the
process toward actually constructing this urgently needed new bridge.
The cost of this “cable-stayed” structure is more than $300 million,
with at least an equal amount going into related highway improvements.
Above:
Taking a look at the new Mississippi bridge design at the RCGA are:
(left to right) Missouri Congressman Lacy Clay; MoDOT Commission
member Marjorie Schramm; Illinois Congressman John Shimkus; Missouri
Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Henry Hungerbeeler;
Illinois Congressman Jerry Costello; Missouri Highway and Transportation
Commission Chairman Lee Kling; St. Louis County Executive Buzz Westfall;
Mayor Francis Slay; Illinois Department of Transportation District
Engineer Jim Easterly; and St. Clair County Board Chairman John
Baricevic. |
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