New bridge opens

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By Dustin Lemmon | Monday, June 18, 2007 8:13 PM CDT | () comments

Veterans Ving Caroters, Evelyn Pealstrom, Bill Hampton and Ed Steinmann salute Monday morning during the dedication of the new West Rock River Bridge. (Larry Fisher/Quad-City Times)

TODAY: (Updated 12:49 p.m.) The Veterans Memorial Bridge at Carr’s Crossing opened this morning after a lengthy ceremony to dedicate the link between the Milan beltway and John Deere Road.

More than 100 people gathered near the center of the bridge to listen to local political leaders thank taxpayers, construction workers and previous state representatives who helped get the bridge funded after nearly 40 years of planning.

It took three years to build the bridge, which is expected to bring both commercial and residential growth to the area surrounding the bridge and the area south of the Rock River.

“I can’t tell you how much I think this is going to help the southwest part of this region,” Illinois Rep. Pat Verschoore, D-Milan, said.

Workers were still removing some barricades around noon, although traffic was beginning to move across the bridge.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.

EARLIER STORY

West Rock River Bridge to open today

Veterans Memorial Bridge at Carr’s Crossing, also known as the West Rock River Bridge, will open to traffic today after a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 10 a.m.

When the ceremony is finished the Illinois Department of Transportation plans to have the project’s contractor remove the barricades and begin shifting traffic control.

The public is welcome to attend the ceremony, which will be held on the new bridge.

Those on the north side of the Rock River can park at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Union Hall at 4600 Blackhawk Road and those south of the river can park at 2701 1st St. in Milan, Ill. MetroLINK will provide a shuttle to pick people up at both locations and take them to and from the bridge.

The bridge, which was supposed to be finished last fall — but construction delayed that — will connect Illinois 5, better known as Blackhawk Road, and Rock Island-Milan Parkway. Construction started three years ago.

This marks the Quad-Cities’ first new bridge in more than 30 years. The last was the Interstate 280 bridge, which opened in 1973.

The Moline/Rock Island entrance to the bridge is next to the Trinity Medical Center-7th Street Campus in Moline. Traffic goes over the Rock River and Interstate 280 to Airport Road in Milan.

Dustin Lemmon can be contacted at (563) 383-2493 or dlemmon@qctimes.com.