From KETC, LIVING ST. LOUIS Producer Jim Kirchherr travels across the McKinley Bridge—the third bridge to span the Mississippi River and connect to St. Louis. The bridge opened in 1910, just north of downtown St. Louis for both automobile and train traffic, but was shut down in 2001 due to deterioration. Now the bridge is being restored for bikes and automobiles.
My dad drove St. Louis streetcars in the 1940s and on his day off would give my mom a break and take my brother and me on the Illinois Terminal's streetcar line across to Granite City and Alton. Whatta ride and even then it was plenty scary. The streetcars were green! The subway under 12th street to the big terminal building actually was a big ditch with the street placed over it as a viaduct, which has led to present-day problems because of its deterioration. Nice to have the bridge back.
waynebrasler 4 years ago