Portion of Delor Bridge Collapses onto I-55
Tonight, just two blocks from my house, a portion the Delor St. bridge collapsed onto I-55 below. The massive section of concrete, the sidewalk and railing, fell to the highway below, blocking all four northbound lanes. A single car seems to have run into the concrete, luckily not ending up under the concrete.
The image above is looking east from the intersection of Minnesota & Delor (google map). You can see the section of concrete completely blocking the lanes as well as the car. I returned north to be able to get under the highway at Broadway so that I could get to the other side.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c_cYo25iMR4[/youtube]
As you can see from the above video, a section of the sidewalk & railing along the north side of the bridge gave way.
So we are preparing to spend the next few years and half a billion dollars rebuilding I-64 (hwy 40) all the while the Mayor is calling for a billion dollar bridge across the Mississippi River. And yet, it seems, we can’t maintain the infrastructure we already have. Even our mass transit system, MetroLink, has deferred maintenance issues. True, this might be a freak accident but this is one of our oldest stretches of highway with questionable bridge structures.
Last week I received a questionnaire from MoDot asking if I, as an area resident, use the pedestrian bridge located a block north at Itaska. Obviously they are looking at this section of highway for a future round of upgrades. At this point we have so many miles of roads & bridges that the upgrading never ends. Sadly, the number of miles per capita continues to increase meaning each of us is responsible for funding more and more infrastructure.
Not suprising really, In the past 10 years MODOT has completed rebuilding the oldest parts of I-70 and are about to start on US 40. The next oldest freeway in St. Louis is I-55 and so I would expect it to be next on the list of major regional highway projects.
MoDOT’s motto is “pave paradise and put up a parking lot” but maintain nothing. Yes MoDOT is being allowed to expand highways, eliminate pedestrian routes, and destroy our quality of life. MoDOT worships false gods, places cars above people, cannot properly maintain what is already in place, etc., Shamefully MOronic, and the worst is yet to come.
I am truely NOT surprised by this incident. I am sad that it happened but am also surprised we don’t have many others. If we would start to embrace alternatives to the automobile we could have more sane formes of transportation. As was already stated we have more roads already that we can’t even maintain. I have seen this city in a constant state of construction. We build one area up while the rest of them fall to pieces. Maybe this situation will be a “wake up call”!
Keep Cycling!
Can you say “deferred maintenance”? Yes, MoDOT dodged a bullet on this one. Lose the reinforcing steel (thru corrosion) and watch gravity work. What’s really scary is the number of bridges of the same vintage and the same design out there. I would not classify this as an isolated incident, but as a wake-up call to focus more on maintaining what we already have and less on building new bridges over the Mississippi and new highways in expanding suburban counties! As we try to “build our way” out of increasing congestion driven by suburban sprawl, we’re penalizing the core city and its residents with crumbling and dangerous infrastructure.
As for the “questionnaire from MoDot asking if [Steve], as an area resident, use[s] the pedestrian bridge located a block north at Itaska”, my guess is much more short-sighted – MoDOT probably just wants to remove the bridge now and eliminate one more maintenance issue as they have elsewhere in the area . . .
I suspect Jim is correct — MoDot probably does want to remove the pedestrian bridge, which is not ADA-compliant, and inconveniently located mid-block between Itaska and Mount Pleasant.
That bridge was most likely installed to provide access for schoolkids who attended Mount Pleasant School one block north on Nebraska (Craig Schmid’s alma mater, incidentally). Of course, that school closed probably 20 years ago and has been an apartment building ever since.
There may have been some limited demand for it for folks who walked to church at now-closed St. Hedwig’s, and of course still you could use it to get to the #40 Broadway bus line.
But I suspect it will be removed in time.
When judging our public entities, pay attention to what they do and not what they say. Of course MoDOT wants to eliminate pedestrian facilities (to save a dollar or two) but their stated objectives say something else (see below). The real question are these: Why do our local elected leaders continue to allow the publicly paid engineers at MODOT to ignore our infrastructure needs? and, Why isn’t adequate consideration given to pedestrians, cyclists and other alternatives to auto travel?
Category:642 Pedestrian Facilities
MoDOT values the needs of all transportation users including pedestrians. Safe, convenient and well-designed facilities are essential when pedestrians are in close proximity to roadway traffic. Consideration for the provision of pedestrian facilities on MoDOT improvement projects occurs during planning, and design activities when specific conditions exist. The design and installation of specific facilities is at the sole discretion of the director or the district engineer acting as the director’s designee. The decision to provide or not provide a facility on any project will be documented.
Existing Facilities
Existing pedestrian facilities disturbed by any MoDOT improvement will be replaced at MoDOT’s expense unless superseded by provisions of a previously executed agreement or permit. Normal right of way and construction costs for this restoration will be included as a project cost for the proposed improvement.
I am not personally familar with this Delor St. bridge. Is it the same type of bridge that is located above the Grand Metrolink Station? I have never felt safe walking across that bridge.
The Delor St. overpass was built in 1963, and has a similar design to many smaller overpasses w/sidewalks in the city and county passing over interstate highways. It’s very different from the Grand Blvd. viaduct, although the low railings are similar on the Grand Blvd. bridge over eastbound I-64 (which is probably even older — early 1950s I’d guess).
what’s the huge black sploch on google maps (select satellite view) located just SW of the Delor I-55 bridge?
filled in for what purpose? will it be used for something? Seems like a waste of space – ie, a large area not really being used for anything. (I’m not saying develop it or bulldoze it, I’m saying make it a park, woodland, praire, anything with an actual use/purpose instead of just vacant and useless)