Built St. Louis: Recalled to Life
Eads Bridge

I will grant one favorable concession to the removal of the roadway: it left nothing but the spectacular steel structure to span the river, allowing some amazing views of -- and through -- the bridge.

But in 1999, construction began on a new roadway, now slated to open in mid-2003.

Reconstruction of the Illinois approach was underway by August 2001. The project reached completion two years later; the bridge's grand reopening was celebrated on the 4th of July, 2003.

Distant plans called for conversion of the bridge to all-pedestrian once a projected new interstate bridge opens to the north, about a decade from now; with the collapse (for now) of that project, the Eads seems likely to continue carrying motor traffic -- which is as it should be. An interstate highway is no substitute for a more human-scaled, local connection across the river.

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