The 85-year-old Centennial Bridge is on state transportation dockets for replacement or significant rehab. The bridge has connected the downtowns of Rock Island and Davenport across the Mississippi River since 1940. Originally a toll bridge, it was named for Rock Island's centennial anniversary. The bridge was designed with five arches to represent the five major cities in the Quad-Cities. Officials with the Illinois and Iowa Departments of Transportation are launching a "Phase 1" study to evaluate the bridge's conditions, gather public input and assess potential environmental and historical impacts of replacing or rehabbing the bridge, officials told the Davenport City Council in a presentation on Tuesday. Illinois is taking the lead on the project. Iowa led decades-long replacement of the Interstate 74 bridge and Illinois has the reins on the in-progress process of replacing the Interstate 80 bridge.
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State officials are evaluating all the potential options, said Michael Kuehn, Illinois Department of Transportation District 2 studies and plans engineer. That could mean keeping the bridge in its place, rebuilding a new bridge in its location or building a new bridge up- or downriver.
Centennial Bridge is barely visible during the morning fog on Saturday, Dec. 23, 2023. "A certain area around the bridge will have a range of alternatives," said Mark Peterson, project manager and engineer from Parsons, a firm assisting with the study. "Whether its the bridge right on existing foundation, upriver, downriver, anything and everything right now, so we don't have any predisposition." When considering "alternatives," state officials will consider impacts on environmental areas, local parks, historical structures and residents and focus on alternatives that avoid or minimize adverse impacts. The study will have multiple public input opportunities, including stakeholder meetings, forming a Community Advisory Group and Technical Advisory Group, and large public meetings, similar to the process for the study to replace the I-80 bridge. State officials told council members the first meeting is planned for April 17. A project website is slated to be launched in March. The study will consider improved bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, too. The bridge currently has a sidewalk. The Centennial has been ranked as the most-traveled structurally deficient bridge in the state of Iowa by the
American Road and Transportation Builders Association. An average of 26,500 cars cross the bridge daily. Iowa has ranked first in the country for having the highest percentage of structurally deficient bridges, which the group defines as having a key element of the bridge in poor or worse condition. Illinois ranked 12th in 2024. Officials told Davenport City Council members they estimate Phase 1 to take 30 months. The second phase, which is making a contract plan and acquiring land easements, is expected to take at least another two years. If stars aligned and everything went smoothly, Kuehn said, construction could start as early as 2030. Kuehn said both Illinois and Iowa DOTs are preparing to set aside funding for a potential new bridge. The Centennial was the first four-lane tied arch bridge to span the Mississippi River. It was funded through federal bonds and paid for by tolls collected from bridge-users
until 2003 . State departments of transportation took over the bridge and its maintenance in 2005.
An arch from the Centennial Bridge, also known as the Master Sergeant Stanley W. Talbot Memorial Bridge, is silhouetted against a fiery orange evening sky. Tony Pakeltis, the project's planning and environment service lead, said the existing bridge is eligible for the National Registry of Historic Places and there are historic buildings and districts on both sides of the river, which Pakeltis said would be an "important factor as we move forward with the project." Pakeltis outlined two laws they'd have to follow. The first is Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, which requires them to evaluate historic resources to determine which one are already on the national registry and which buildings are eligible, in order to avoid or minimize impact to those resources. The second is Section 4(f), a protection for public parks and wildlife refuges, which requires them to evaluate alternatives and make sure there's no feasible or prudent alternative that's available that would avoid impacting those resources. Davenport elected officials acknowledged a new bridge would be potentially a decade or more away, but praised efforts to start the lengthy process. "To be clear, we're talking years," Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said. "I-74, 30 years, right? ...It's a huge process, and it's a big deal for us. This one is the key artery for the Quad-Cities." Ald. Marion Meginnis, who represents the ward of Davenport that the Centennial Bridge empties into, said she is "very concerned about the historic and potential historic impacts. "This bridge is completely surrounded," Meginnis said, adding that that she's familiar with conversations that happened in the 1970s to potentially bring in a highway to connect with the Centennial that she said "would have really cut through the heart of the city." At-Large Ald. Jazmin Newton urged the transportation officials to publicize as widely as possible the public input sessions and ways the public can participate in the discussions.
Photos: Moline pier that once held I-74 bridge goes boom Sunday Feb. 18
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Onlookers wait on the Bettendorf side of the river for the planned explosion of a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge the morning of Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. 021824-qc-nws-bridge001.JPG
The pier (front) that once held up the old-I-74 bridge is seen before demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish it the morning of Sunday Feb. 18, 2024. 021824-qc-nws-bridge002.JPG
Demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. It was expected to be the final time the company used explosives as to dismantle the old I-74 bridge. 021824-qc-nws-bridge003.JPG
Demolition contractor Helm Group uses controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old Interstate 74 bridge the morning of Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. It was expected to be the final time the company used explosives as to dismantle the old I-74 bridge. 021824-qc-nws-bridge004.JPG
Water shoots upward as demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. The company used underwater and above water explosives to dismantle the concrete pier. 021824-qc-nws-bridge005.JPG
Smoke clears after demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old Interstate 74 bridge on Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. It was expected to be the final time the company used explosives to dismantle the old I-74 bridge. 021824-qc-nws-bridge006.JPG
Smoke clears after demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. It was expected to be the final time the company used explosives as to dismantle the old I-74 bridge. Other structures are expected to remain in place or be dismantled without explosives. 021824-qc-nws-bridge007.JPG
The wind carries the smoke eastward under the new I-74 bridge after demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. It was expected to be the final time the company used explosives as to dismantle the old I-74 bridge. 021824-qc-nws-bridge008.JPG
The wind carries the smoke eastward under the new I-74 bridge after demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives to demolish a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024. It was expected to be the final time the company used explosives as to dismantle the old I-74 bridge. 021824-qc-nws-bridge.JPG
Waves crashed onto the shores of the Mississippi River near where demolition contractor Helm Group used controlled explosives the morning of Sunday, Feb. 18, 2024 to take down a Moline pier that once held up the old I-74 bridge. Get Government & Politics updates in your inbox!
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