By Tom Weber, KWMU
St. Louis, Mo. – The first bridge that came down as part of the big I-64 reconstruction project has been rebuilt and will open Saturday.
The crossing takes Tamm Avenue from Dogtown, over the highway, and into Forest Park; it's been out of service for six months.
It's a popular way to get to the zoo, which is why zoo animals will be part of festivities on the bridge (which start at 1:00 p.m.) before it officially opens to cars.
MO-DOT spokeswoman Linda Wilson says pedestrians were factor in the design. "There is an improved sidewalk - we have a much higher fence," she noted, in an interview. "So, for the large amount of pedestrian traffic that uses that bridge they're going to see a much-improved bridge to cross Tamm and get in and out of Forest Park."
The new overpass also was defaced by graffiti while it was being built, but Wilson says that did not slow down work.
"We put a graffiti coating on [bridges and walls] to make it easier to take care of graffiti when it happens," she noted. "The problem at Tamm was the graffiti artists got to it before we had the coating on there."
The old Tamm bridge had the same design as one on I-55 where a piece of sidewalk fell onto the highway last year. That problem does not exist with the new Tamm bridge.
The reopening Saturday of the Tamm bridge will be followed on Monday by the opening of the new ramp from westbound I-64 to northbound I-170.