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IDOT Blog – Tuesday, February 14, 2023
I-74 river bridge named Roads & Bridges’ Top Bridge Of 2022
The Interstate 74 Mississippi River Bridge in the Quad Cities has been named Roads & Bridges magazine’s top bridge of 2022. Winners are chosen based on scope of work, overall impact to the region and challenges overcome by the project.
The I-74 Mississippi River Bridge includes twin spans, new interchanges, ramps and local road reconfigurations to improve mobility and operation, delivering safer and more reliable travel for motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike.
Opened to traffic in December 2021, the project offers four lanes in each direction and improved safety. The bridge also includes a 14-foot-wide bike and pedestrian path with a scenic overlook and connections to existing paths in both Bettendorf and Moline.
The $1 billion project was approximately 88.5% federally funded with the Iowa and Illinois departments of transportation footing the bill for their own land-based contracts and splitting the cost of the bridge.
“We are proud to receive this award for the I-74 Mississippi River Bridge, yet another example of bold leadership delivering the type of improvements in infrastructure that will keep this region competitive for many, many years to come,” said Secretary Omer Osman. “This beautiful new structure is especially meaningful because of our partnership with Iowa and our work with federal, state and local stakeholders.”
Connecting the states of Iowa and Illinois, I-74 serves as an important east-west link in the nation’s transportation network. The I-74 corridor is a primary crossing of the Mississippi River in the Quad Cities area, carrying more than 45% of total vehicular traffic across the river. The I-74 River Bridge project is part of a regional strategy for improving access across the Mississippi River.
Roads & Bridges’ Top 10 Bridge awards has recognized the top projects in North America since 2000. View the article here.
Since opening a year ago, the bridge has received several honors. It was named a Top 12 finalist in the America’s Transportation Awards for Project of the Year from the American Association of State Highway Transportation Officials, AAA, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. It also received the Structural Engineering Excellence Award from the National Council of Structural Engineers Association.
The bridge also was featured in the U.S. Postal Service’s 2023 stamp collection. Sold in quantities of 3,000 and 10,000, the first-class stamps are for bulk-mail users. Other bridges depicted on the stamps include the Arrigoni Bridge in Middletown, Conn., the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge in Omaha, Neb., and the Skydance Bridge in Oklahoma City.
Click here to view the new stamps.