McClugage Bridge

The McClugage Bridge carries U.S. Route 150 over Upper Peoria Lake and Peoria Lake in the Illinois River in the US state of Illinois. Originally opened in 1948, the crossing has had two physical structures since 1982, one carrying westbound traffic and one carrying eastbound traffic.

McClugage Bridge
McClugage Bridge from the west side of the Illinois River; 1982 span in foreground, 1948 span in background
Coordinates	40°43′12″N 89°32′45″W
Carries	5 lanes (3 WB, 2 EB) of US 150
Crosses	Illinois River
Locale	Peoria, Illinois
Official name	McClugage Bridge
Maintained by	Illinois Department of Transportation
ID number	WB: 000090011505461 Old EB: 000090007019729[1]
Characteristics
Design	Dual cantilever bridges
Total length	4,745.1 ft (1446.3 m)[1]
Width	WB: 39.0 ft (11.9 m) Old EB: 28.9 ft (8.8 m)[1]
Longest span	190 m
Load limit	WB: 77.2 metric tons Old EB: 55.8 metric tons[1]
Clearance below	14.9 m[1]
History
Opened	WB: 1982 Old EB: 1948 New EB: 2024
Rebuilt	EB: 2000, 2019–2024
Statistics
Daily traffic	30,000 (combined, As of 2021[update])[2]
Location

The bridge's official name honors David H. McClugage, mayor of Peoria from 1937 to 1941.^[3]

History

Ironworkers Memorial, located near Grand View Drive

The original span of the McClugage Bridge was designed as a steel cantilever bridge in 1939^[4] to replace the Upper Free Bridge across a narrow stretch of Upper Peoria Lake just to the north. Due to World War II, the bridge was not completed until 1948.^[3]

In 1964, the bridge was repaired after over a decade of service.^[5]

An additional three-lane span of similar style was constructed immediately north of the existing bridge in 1982.^[4][5] Since 1982, the northern span has carried westbound traffic, and the original southern two-lane span carried only eastbound traffic from 1982 to 2024.^[5]

The southern span was rehabilitated in 2000. During rehabilitation, an accident in 2000 killed three iron workers when scaffolding on the bridge collapsed 62 feet (19 m) into the river.^[3] Due to this tragedy, there was an effort to change the name of the bridge to "Ironworkers Memorial Bridge". However, instead of the name change, the iron workers were memorialized by a monument on Lorentz Avenue near the bridge that was dedicated in April 2001.^[3][6]

In 2019, construction began on replacing the deteriorated eastbound, original span with a three-lane wide tied-arch bridge, along with a multi-use path on the right side.^[5] The new bridge will also include a protected bike lane and pedestrian path. After the $167 million eastbound bridge is complete, a $54.8 million rehabilitation of the westbound 1982 bridge will follow.^[7] The new bridge, originally slated to be completed by the fall of 2023, was re-scheduled to open in 2024.^[8][9][10]

The new eastbound span opened to road traffic in the early morning hours of December 19, 2024. Completion of the multiuse path, and demolition of the 1948 span, is to follow later.^[11][12]