Chouteau Freeway Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Chouteau Freeway Bridge does not carry an Interstate highway across it, although it does carry Missouri Route 269, across the Missouri River. There have been two bridges that have carried the name Chouteau Bridge. The first bridge was a three span Whipple Truss bridge, built in 1887, and was the second bridge over the Missouri River in the Kansas City, Missouri area. In the beginning it was a railroad bridge built and used by The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, or also known as the "Milwaukee Road". Upon the completion and opening of the Truman Bridge downstream, the Chouteau was converted to vehicular use in 1951. The bridge was very narrow, and in the latter years was often closed accidents, and due to low weight issues, when it was reduced to 3 tons, it was closed permanently, and removed in 2001, after a failing to get on the list of Historic Structures. When it was removed on 2001, it was currently the oldest span across the Missouri River.
In 2001, a new span was built a few yards upstream of the old span. It is a contemporary bridge, supporting four lanes of traffic. The north end of the bridge is near the entrance for the Harrah's Casino.
