Instead of reopening this fall, MLK Bridge will remain closed until next summer

Metro-east commuters who prefer to cross the Mississippi River on the Martin Luther King Bridge will have to wait quite a while longer for the bridge to reopen.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that flooding this spring and summer has delayed a construction project on the bridge that closed in August of last year. It was originally expected to reopen this fall.

Now, according to the Illinois Department of Transportation, the bridge work won’t be complete until next summer.

IDOT spokesman Guy Tridgell says the flooding impacted train routes. He says the diverted trains were rerouted to tracks under the bridge project, preventing IDOT from being able to safely remove a section of the existing bridge.

The construction work is on the Illinois side.

Last year, state officials said the Illinois budget allocated more than $36 million to demolish an old truss bridge on the ramp leading to the MLK.

IDOT records from 2017 show that before the bridge was closed for roadwork, there were 9,650 vehicles that used the bridge.

This story was originally published August 29, 2019 at 11:50 AM.