As reported by Bliss:
“I attended a quarterly meeting of the Route 66 Association of Missouri yesterday and learned that the old 66 bridge across the Meramec River at Route 66 State Park in Eureka, MO (formerly the Times Beach 66 bridge) is slated for *swift and complete* demolition. Period.
There was some discussion about what could be done to stall or prevent the bridge’s removal and at this point I don’t have a *specific* contact and can only suggest emails or letters of protest to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). Contact is: http://modot.org
A representative from the National Park Service was in attendance and, as I recall, said something to the effect that the swift action is due to available money to MoDOT being nearly expired. (Could be wrong about that, however, so don’t hold me to it.) You might be able to get more info from: http://www.cr.nps.gov/rt66 or IM Rt66(at)nps.gov
Perhaps nothing will prevent the permanent bridge removal (no replacement) but this group is powerful and as such our pleas and protests might help to save the bridge, which I’m confident could still be used as a beautiful and historical pedestrian crossing. Nearly anything is possible……..Bliss”
Here is the MoDOT press release about the bridge closing: MoDOT permanently closes Old Route 66 Bridge
Mark Stauter
rudyard1
I can’t believe they would just pull it down – I totally understand that it is not safe and they need to be careful – but surely it could be made safe enough for a pedestrian bridge ? spend the money on that instead of pulling it down
I’ve emailed them (thanks for the link Bliss)
Here are some more people to write to:
Governor Jay Nixon
State Capitol
P.O. Box 720
Jefferson City, MO 65101
Mark Templeton
Director, Missouri Department of Natural Resources
1101 Riverside Dr., Box 176
Jefferson City, MO 65102
Timothy Jones
State Representative, District 89
201 W. Capitol Ave. Box 114A
Jeffferson City, MO 65101
At the meeting of the Route 66 Association of Missouri this past Saturday (January 16, 2010), representatives from MoDOT gave a presentation on the current status of the Meramec River bridge at Route 66 State Park. Read about it here – http://rwarn17588.wordpress.com/2010/01/17/the-grim-state-of-the-route-66-bridge/