The McKinley Bridge is a steel

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. It connects northern portions of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

with

Venice, Illinois Venice is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,498 at the 2020 census, down from 1,890 in 2010. History Venice was platted in 1841. Geography Venice is located in the southwest corner of Madison County at (3 ...

. 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 The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

and vehicular bridge, it had become vehicular-only by 1978.

Description

The bridge was named for its builder, William B. McKinley, chief executive of the

Illinois Traction System The Illinois Terminal Railroad Company (reporting mark ITC), known as the Illinois Traction System until 1937, was a heavy duty interurban electric railroad with extensive passenger and freight business in central and southern Illinois from 189 ...

interurban electric railway, which accessed St. Louis via the bridge; and not for President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

. 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 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, 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. The bridge is accessible from

Illinois Route 3 Illinois Route 3 (IL 3) is a major north–south arterial state highway in southwestern Illinois. It has its southern terminus at Cairo Junction (about north of Cairo, Illinois, Cairo) at the intersection of U.S. Route 51 in Illinois, U.S ...

in Illinois, and from the intersection of Salisbury and North 9th Street in the city of St. Louis.

History

Construction and early history

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 Polish Americans () are Americans who either have total or partial Polish ancestry, or are citizens of the Republic of Poland. There are an estimated 8.81 million self-identified Polish Americans, representing about 2.67% of the U.S. population, ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

Ralph Modjeski Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; ; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder." He furthered the use of suspension bridges and oversaw the desig ...

. It was constructed by

Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

. and Pennsylvania Steel Co. The bridge was owned by the city of

and operated as a toll bridge. When the

U.S. Highway System The United States Numbered Highway System (often called U.S. Routes or U.S. Highways) is an integrated network of roads and highways numbered within a nationwide grid in the contiguous United States. As the designation and numbering of these h ...

was instituted in 1926, the McKinley Bridge then carried auto traffic on the famous

Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

across the Mississippi River for four years, until the route was transferred to the

Chain of Rocks Bridge The old Chain of Rocks Bridge spans the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. The eastern end of the bridge is on Chouteau Island (part of Madison, Illinois), while the western end is on the Missouri shorel ...

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

After decades of disrepair due to the lack of toll revenues, the McKinley Bridge was closed in 2001. 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. 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. Rehabilitation began in 2004 and the original plans for the repairs anticipated a re-opening in late 2005. 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, long each) and thirty-three steel plate girder spans, with a length totaling . The Bridge reopened to pedestrians and bicycles on November 17, 2007, with a grand re-opening celebration. It was fully reopened to vehicular traffic on December 17, 2007.

References

External links