MLK Bridge to be closed until December

It’s going to get a little more difficult for some metro-east residents who commute to St. Louis.

The Illinois Department of Transportation on Friday announced plans to close the Martin Luther King Bridge Jr. for renovations. The bridge will close at 9 a.m. Monday for the work.

IDOT project implementation engineer Jeff Church said the closure is needed to resurface the bridge’s deck. But the good news is the fact the bridge closure now will save Illinois taxpayers millions.

“The project was originally supposed to be done earlier but the bids came in way, way over budget,” Church said. “But the timing will cause it to be quite a bit cheaper.”

The current project is expected to cost $15.9 million. Earlier bids came in between $19 and $20 million, according to Church.

He said part of the reason for the price difference was a result of the painting work, which would have been pricier during the winter months.

If it was cold, surfaces being painted would have had to be enclosed and heated so that the coating would adhere properly.

“Just by being able to paint when it’s warm will save a lot of money,” Church said.

While the MLK Bridge will close temporarily, the Poplar Street Bridge will be restored to four westbound lanes at about the same time. The Poplar Street Bridge had been restricted to two westbound lanes while the ramp to Interstates 44 and 55 was rebuilt.

After the MLK Bridge reopens in the middle of December, the eastbound lanes of the Poplar Street Bridge will be reconfigured.

The construction of the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge in 2009 started a flurry of coordinated bridge construction. After the Musial Bridge opened, it allowed lanes of the Poplar Street Bridge to be closed for work. The opening of the Poplar Street lanes allows the MLK Bridge work and when the MLK is done, the eastbound Poplar Street work will be done.

Church said the last of the work will be completed in 2017.

“After that, we hope we’ll have a stretch where there aren’t any major projects going on for a while,” he said.

The MLK Bridge was built in 1961. While it’s closure will disrupt the commute routine of some metro-east residents, Church said the trade of lanes of the Poplar Street Bridge for lanes of the MLK Bridge is a gain for drivers.

Two lanes of the Poplar Street Bridge will reopen, Church said, while the MLK Bridge only has one westbound lane.

While the work to orchestrate construction on some of the spans is coordinated, one crossing had an unplanned closure Friday.

The Eads bridge remained closed to traffic Friday after being struck by a barge tow on Thursday evening. MetroLink trains, however, are still crossing the bridge.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 7:14 AM with the headline "MLK Bridge to be closed until December."