MLK Bridge closed till December

Chronicle Media

Metro -- 072215 MLK bridge PHOTO 2The Illinois Department of Transportation closed the Martin Luther King (MLK) Bridge Monday (July 20) for a four-month, $15.9 million renovation project. Crews plan to remove the bridge deck, replace its middle truss span, make structural repairs and paint. Drivers are advised to use the Stan Musial Bridge to the north or Poplar Street Bridge to the south. All traffic lanes on the Poplar Street Bridge are now open, following the completion of renovations on that span Saturday. The MLK Bridge had been scheduled to close in July; however, rainy weather delayed completion of the Poplar Street repairs until last week. The MLK carries an estimated 26,700 vehicles each day. Some initial work on the bridge has been underway for the past month. On Thursday, a worker was killed on the bridge after a tug boat struck the span and the impact cause the worker to fall from scaffolding. The bridge was closed that evening while engineers assessed the structural integrity of the bridge.

Photo credit: Wikipedia Commons

 

— MLK Bridge closed till December —