St. Louis is moving forward with a plan to replace the 109-year-old Compton Bridge.
“It’s exciting,” said Alderwoman Christine Ingrassia, D-6th Ward. “There has always been a plan, it’s just taking way longer than we anticipated.”
The bridge carries Compton Avenue over the railroad tracks in Midtown, near Harris-Stowe State University. Built in 1911, it last had a major overhaul in 1965.
The city received $2.5 million in federal funding to design the new bridge. The public can comment on that design at a virtual public meeting from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday.
“We will get a completely new bridge,” said John Kohler, director of planning and programs for the city’s Board of Public Service. “We’ll also be doing some improvements at each end of the project.”
The bridge will still carry four lanes of traffic, Kohler said, but will be much easier for pedestrians to use.
“This project is planning an east-side-running protected two-way cycle track, 10 feet wide, and immediately adjacent to that a 6-foot-wide pedestrian path,” he said.
The construction phase will cost about $20 million. The city will apply for federal money to cover 80% of the cost in February but must come up with the remaining 20%.
“We are confident that we will have it in time to make sure that we have the match when the federal government is ready to approve the funding request that we submit,” Ingrassia said.
If funding is secured, construction will begin in 2024.
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