A new detour is now in place for I-74 bridge traffic traveling from Bettendorf to Moline. Herb Trix reports.
Field Engineer, Ryan Hippen from the Illinois Department of Transportation, says eastbound traffic must take the 7th Avenue off-ramp in Moline to 19th Street.
The detour ends at Avenue of the Cities where traffic can get back onto I-74.
It allows a contractor, Kraemer North America, to start demolishing the viaduct between River Drive and 7th Avenue. Also this construction season, another contractor, Walsh Group, will continue building the highway in Moline.
The new, Illinois-bound detour is necessary because last year, the Iowa-bound bridge was not completed on time.
After holding a public meeting late last year, the project team rejected one option, to delay work on eastbound I-74 which would've cost nearly $6.9 million.
Instead the team got approval from the state DOTs and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for this option which should only cost "a couple hundred-thousand dollars" according to managers of the $1.2 billion project.