McClugage Bridge

McClugage Bridge
McClugage Bridge from the east side of the Illinois River.
Coordinates	40°43′12″N 89°32′45″W
Carries	5 lanes (3 WB, 2 EB) of US 150
Crosses	Illinois River
Locale	Peoria, Illinois
Official name	McClugage Bridge
Maintained by	Illinois Department of Transportation
ID number	WB: 000090011505461 EB: 000090007019729[1]
Characteristics
Design	Dual cantilever bridges
Total length	4,745.1 ft (1446.3 m)[1]
Width	WB: 39.0 ft (11.9 m) EB: 28.9 ft (8.8 m)[1]
Longest span	190 m
Load limit	WB: 77.2 metric tons EB: 55.8 metric tons[1]
Clearance below	14.9 m[1]
History
Opened	WB: 1982 EB: 1948
Rebuilt	EB: 2000, 2019–2024
Statistics
Daily traffic	40,400 (combined)[2]
Location

The McClugage Bridge carries U.S. Route 150 over Upper Peoria Lake & Peoria Lake in the Illinois River in the US state of Illinois. The bridge's official name honors David H. McClugage, mayor of Peoria from 1937 to 1941.^[3] The crossing is actually composed of two bridges, one carrying westbound traffic and one carrying eastbound traffic.

History

Ironworkers Memorial, located near Grand View Drive

The original span of the McClugage Bridge was designed as a steel cantilever bridge in 1939^[4] to replace the Upper Free Bridge, an existing bridge across a narrow stretch of Upper Peoria Lake. Due to World War II, the bridge was not completed until 1948.^[5][3]

In 1964, the bridge was repaired after over a decade of service.^[6]

An additional three-lane span of similar style was constructed immediately north of the existing bridge in 1982.^[4] Currently, the northern span carries westbound traffic and the original southern two-lane span carries eastbound traffic.

The southern span was rehabilitated in 2000. During rehabilitation, an accident in 2000 killed three iron workers when scaffolding on the bridge collapsed 62 feet (19 m) into the river.^[3] Due to this tragedy, there was an effort to change the name of the bridge to "Ironworkers Memorial Bridge". However, instead of the name change, the iron workers were memorialized by a monument on Lorentz Avenue near the bridge that was dedicated in April 2001.^[7][3]

In 2019, construction began on replacing the deteriorated eastbound (original) span with a three-lane wide tied-arch bridge, along with a multi-use path on the right side.^[8] The new bridge will also include a protected bike lane and pedestrian path.^[9] The new $167 million bridge, originally slated to be completed by the fall of 2023, is now scheduled to open in 2024.^[10][11][12]

References

1. "National Bridge Inventory Database Search - 2012". nationalbridges.com. Archived from the original on December 12, 2015. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
2. Illinois Department of Transportation (2003). "Getting Around Illinois: Average Annual Daily Traffic". Archived from the original on February 19, 2007. Retrieved March 30, 2007.
3. Kravetz, Andy (June 26, 2015). "Extra: Peoria's bridges over the Illinois River have interesting origins". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
4. http://www.hanson-inc.com/bridges/bridges_mcclugage.htm^{[permanent dead link‍]}
5. "Bridgehunter.com - McClugage Bridge". bridgehunter.com.
6. https://www.mcclugagebridge.com/history
7. Peoria Journal Star, April 19, 2001^{[full citation needed]}
8. "HISTORY - McClugage Bridge". McClugageBridge. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
9. "Gov. Pritzker Celebrates 167 Million McClugage Bridge Improvement Project". www.illinois.gov. September 20, 2021. Retrieved September 29, 2023.
10. Kravetz, Andy (February 13, 2023). "The McClugage Bridge is behind schedule. Here's why and what's next in the transformation". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved February 13, 2023.
11. "- McClugage Bridge Project". Retrieved September 29, 2023.
12. "McClugage Bridge | Construction | Peoria, Illinois". McClugageBridge. Retrieved September 29, 2023.