More than three years after construction began, motorists will soon be able to use half of the new I-74 bridge across the Mississippi River. Early Friday morning, the west bound lanes will open, carrying traffic from Moline to Bettendorf.
The bridge project's Corridor Manager, George Ryan, says "It's been a long time coming."
"The contractors have done an excellent job this year. The weather has cooperated much more in 2020, even with COVID and all the things that are going on. The weather has cooperated a lot more and they've made a lot of good headway on the river bridge, as well as on land and we're happy to open this up."
Eastbound traffic on I-74 will move to the completed side sometime this winter, until the second bridge is ready late next year.
And for anyone worried about safety, Ryan says the new bridge will be much safer than the old one.
"Because of the new modified interchanges and the ramps and because of the room that there is up on this bridge - 72 feet wide total from edge to edge versus roughly 28 to 30 feet wide on the old bridges so it'll be much safer for the motoring public."
Construction on the 1.2 billion dollar project began in the summer of 2017, and all lanes should be completed and open by late in 2021.