Governor Quinn Announces $18 Million for Illinois Route 3 Road and Bridge Work in East St. Louis

EAST ST. LOUIS – Governor Pat Quinn today announced a capital investment of more than $18 million for a construction project in East St. Louis to prepare for the opening of the $708 million Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge in early 2014. The project is part of Governor Quinn’s agenda to create jobs and drive Illinois’ economy forward, and is funded through the Illinois Jobs Now! capital construction program.

“All of this is leading up to a new way of crossing the Mississippi River that will have a huge economic impact for decades on communities like East St. Louis,” Governor Quinn said. “This road work in East St. Louis will mean even more construction jobs in the Metro East region.”

Paving and bridge work will be done on the recently relocated Illinois Route 3 through East St. Louis. The new highway and street layout is being done in conjunction with the new Mississippi River bridge construction nearby to better accommodate the flow of traffic once the bridge opens. Baxmeyer Construction, Inc. of Waterloo was the lowest of eight bidders for the work at $18,266,181. The project will be managed by the Illinois Department of Transportation.

The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge project is a joint undertaking by the Illinois and Missouri departments of transportation. It will carry Interstate 70 traffic from Illinois to Missouri connecting I-70 from the I-55/I-64/I-70 interchange on the Illinois side to I-70 near Cass Avenue in Missouri. Construction began in 2009 and is expected to be complete by early 2014. The project has created or supported more than 3,400 jobs within a record-breaking diverse workforce. Once complete, the bridge will provide congestion relief, improve safety and spur economic development across the region.

"This project has been of great benefit to the economy and people of the Metro East,” State Senator James Clayborne (D-Belleville) said. "It is especially encouraging to see the state's commitment to utilizing minority owned businesses."

“These improvements can help create jobs, make for better traffic flow and improve local infrastructure,” State Rep. Eddie Lee Jackson (D-East St. Louis) said. “By creating jobs and updating our aging infrastructure, we are making important progress in our region.”

The $708 million bridge project is funded through a combination of federal and state funds, which includes $42 million from Governor Quinn’s $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! capital program. Missouri contributed $66 million toward the project.

The Route 3 project is part of Governor Quinn’s $31 billion Illinois Jobs Now! program, which will support more than 439,000 jobs over six years. Illinois Jobs Now! is the largest capital construction program in Illinois history and is one of the largest capital construction programs in the nation.