ST LOUIS - The Mississippi River Bridge project team has scheduled a public meeting to discuss future renovation work on the St. Louis Ave. and Madison Ave. bridges over Interstate 70.

The open house-style public meeting is tonight, April 16, 2009, from 4 to 7 p.m. at Clay Elementary School, 3820 North 14th Street, St. Louis, MO, 63107.

This meeting is open house-style, which means no formal presentations will be made.  During the meeting, the MRB team will discuss the project to replace these two bridges across I-70 and to remove the Cass Bridge. Attendees will be able to discuss the bridge replacement schedule, detours and any other concerns. Additionally, attendees can find out about the progress the design team has made on the Mississippi River Bridge and associated projects. Attendees will be able to offer comments or suggestions at any time during the meeting, and be able to document those comments. Attendees, or other interested parties, will be able to submit comments before June 6.

The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission will accept bids for this project in late May. Work on the project will start in late 2009 and is expected to be finished by Dec. 31, 2010.

The new Mississippi River Bridge is expected to reduce severe traffic congestion and vehicle crashes on the Poplar Street Bridge (PSB). Currently, PSB carries combined traffic for Interstates 55, 64 and 70. In 2004, traffic counts on the PSB average 120,000 vehicles daily.

Visit http://www.newriverbridge.org/ for more information on the new Mississippi River Bridge.

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