By AP/KWMU
St. Louis, MO – People in Missouri and Illinois will get three chances this week to view and weigh in on a scaled-down plan for a new Mississippi River bridge.
The first public hearing is scheduled for tonight (Tuesday) at Webster Middle School in St. Louis City.
Plans call for building an eight-lane bridge that relocates Interstate 70 off the Poplar Street Bridge to just north of downtown. The new plans have lowered the $1.6 billion price tag to $910 million.
Uncertainty lingers over how Illinois and Missouri will match the $239 million Congress has so far set aside for the project. Missouri has proposed having the bridge charge tolls, but officials in Illinois reject that idea.
Other public meetings will be held tomorrow (Wednesday) in East St. Louis at the Clyde C. Jordan Senior Center and the Venice (Ill.) Recreation Center on Thursday.
OPEN HOUSES FOR NEW BRIDGE
Tuesday, November 8, 2005
5:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Webster Middle School
2127 N. 11th Avenue
St. Louis City
Wednesday, November 9, 2005
4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Clyde C. Jordan Senior Center
6755 State Street
East St. Louis, Ill.
Thursday, November 10, 2005
4:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.
Venice Recreation Center
305 Broadway
Venice, Ill.