SPRINGFIELD — Officials from Illinois, Iowa, and the federal government are celebrating the completion of a new bridge carrying Interstate 74 over the Mississippi River.
State and local politicians and Federal Highway Administration staff members gathered on the structure recently to publicize its opening to traffic sometime this month. Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker says the bridge, under construction for four years, is one of the largest construction projects in state history.
The $1 billion project, nearly 90% of which came from federal money, replaces an initial bridge that opened in 1935. A second span was completed in 1960.
