That's what it took to get the new, I-74 bridge project off the ground according to the head of the BiState Regional Commission.
Michelle O'Neill talked with Executive Director, Denise Bulat, who says the decades-long process started with discussions about a couple of other Mississippi River bridges
As Government Bridge between Davenport and Rock Island approached 100 years of age, transportation planners and local officials decided to widen the scope of the river crossing problem.
In the mid-1990s, they conducted a study to find out where drivers started, where they were going, and what would be the most efficient way for most vehicles to cross the Mississippi.
Bulat says they found drivers were avoiding Centennial Bridge because it cost $0.50. So the decision was made to remove the tolls. After that, traffic doubled on the bridge that carries U.S. Highway 67 between Davenport and Rock Island.
For the next ten years, Bulat says local planners worked with the state departments of transportation on a draft, Environmental Impact Statement.
The options discussed included digging a tunnel under the river, building a new bridge, and adding lanes to the existing twin bridges, which were built locally in 1935 and 1959. Later, state and federal transportation agencies retrofitted them to serve as an interstate highway.
So Bulat says the planning team got ready to say "goodbye" to the Twin Bridges, calling them "functionally obsolete."
The team's plan reached a milestone in 2009 when the Federal Highway Administration approved a Record of Decision and the project got clearance to continue.
This year, the Bi-State Regional Commission celebrated its 55th anniversary.
Here's a look at the I-74 Bridge Project timeline.
