McKinley Bridge

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McKinley Bridge
The McKinley Bridge seen from the Gateway Arch
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	St. Louis, Missouri and Venice, Illinois
Maintained by	Venice, Illinois
Longest span	3 519 feet (158 m) spans
Total length	6,313 feet (1,924 m)
Clearance below	90 feet (27 m)
Opening date	November 10, 1910
Coordinates	38°39′54″ N 90°10′58″ W (38.665, -90.182777777778)

The McKinley Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri is a steel truss bridge 517 feet in length. It opened in 1910 and was taken out of service on October 30, 2001, with a 2007 scheduled reopening. The bridge carried both railroad and vehicular traffic across the Mississippi River for decades. Eventually, the railroad line over the span was closed by 1978, and an additional set of lanes were opened for vehicles in the inner roadway. The McKinley Bridge was the first alignment of U.S. Route 66 across the Mississippi. It is commonly assumed that the bridge was named for President William McKinley; but in reality, it was named for the builder.

[edit] Closure

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The closure of the McKinley Bridge provoked a lot of interest. The bridge had serious deterioration and was in need of repair. The bridge is owned by the city of Venice, Illinois, and they ran it as a toll bridge. The City of Venice received a bill from the City of St. Louis for back property taxes on the portion of the bridge in St. Louis. The toll system for the bridge was difficult to enforce (many people crossed without paying), and the City of Venice was unable to pay. Due to the historic nature of the bridge, and the traffic relief provided by the bridge, the state of Illinois planned to provide money for fixing the bridge, but was unable to due to the situation. After not paying the taxes, and much negotiation with both states (Illinois and Missouri), St. Louis foreclosed on the property, and the bridge was closed indefinitely. The original plans for the repairs anticipate re-opening in the spring of 2006; this timeframe was pushed back, and work is now expected to be complete and the bridge opened by July 2007.^[1]