The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge opened to vehicle traffic over the weekend. The 1,500-foot cable-stayed span across the Mississippi River is touted as a traffic relief infrastructure.
Opening to much fanfare this weekend, the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge is expected to attract 40,000 vehicle trips per day, siphoning traffic away from the Poplar Street Bridge and the Martin Luther King Bridge. The new cable-stayed span carries Interstate 70 across the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois. Both Missouri and Illinois paid for the bridge, with help from the federal government.
A report by Ken Leisner details the span’s history as well as its technical specifications. Here are some statistics that describe the size of the four-lane bridge: “the support towers still rise 400 feet from their pedestals, nearly 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. And the structure ranks as the nation’s third-longest cable-stayed bridge, with a main span of 1,500 feet.”
A separate report by Richard Bose in NextStl includes images from the day of the opening, and an eyewitness account of what it was like to walk across the bridge on the day of its opening.
FULL STORY: New Mississippi River bridge opens to traffic

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie