Repairs slated next month on Emerson Bridge

Nearly two decades old, the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge will undergo repair during the first week of October but the 3,955-foot span will continue to be open to traffic.

Missouri Department of Transportation announced this week that westbound lanes of the cable-stayed bridge will be reduced to a single lane with a 16-foot width restriction for four days: from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Oct. 3 through 6, weather permitting.

The impacted section of roadway is located from Cape Girardeau's Fountain Street to Levee Road in East Cape Girardeau, Illinois.

Missouri highways 74 and 34 are connected by the bridge to Illinois Route 146.

The work zone, MoDOT officials said, will be marked with signs and motorists are urged to use caution when navigating through the construction area.

History

Ribbon-cutting ceremonies opening Emerson Bridge were held Dec. 13, 2003.

The span is named for congressman Bill Emerson, who represented Southeast Missouri in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1981 until his death from lung cancer in 1996.

Prior to Emerson Bridge, Cape Girardeau Bridge connected travelers between Missouri and Illinois beginning in 1928.

With the completion of the new span, the old 4,744-foot truss bridge, which had one outbound and one inbound lane with a narrow 20-foot road deck, was demolished in 2004.