SPRINGFIELD MO trip
Aug. 11-12 2012
PART 5
I adore this photo on I-55 in St. Louis. It really gets the Scholaring ducts flowing! Note the Gateway Arch at center-right, and a rather interesting old building in front of that.
I-55 uses this ramp to merge with I-64/70. We're going under a rail bridge, and the old building at right gets surprisingly close to the freeway.
Looking south from the ramp, this is a view of the aforementioned rail bridge. The road straight ahead is 2nd Street, and it goes under part of a warehouse-type building up ahead.
As we merge with I-64/70, this is a view of the MacArthur Bridge.
I-55/64/70 and US 40 use the Poplar Street Bridge - officially called the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge - to East St. Louis. It opened in 1967 - and has little to do with Poplar Street itself. US 66 once used this bridge too (probably after it used the MacArthur Bridge), as did US 50. Plans are for I-70 to be moved to a new bridge scheduled for completion in 2015. Right-wing Missouri lawmakers wanted the new span named for Ronald Reagan, but this was deemed a slap in the face, considering the Republicans' unpopularity within the cities of St. Louis and East St. Louis.
Continuing through East St. Louis - which in my opinion remains one of America's greatest cities.
This building in East St. Louis caught my fancy. This is a view from the Interstate, and the building is near the intersection of Collinsville Avenue and Summit Avenue.
I-64 in East St. Louis. I think the fancy bridge is for commuter rail.
Along I-64 in East St. Louis. The road on the right could be Harriet Street, which would probably be a good subject for a photo shoot of its own.
From I-64, this is probably one of the streets off Harriet (possibly 39th).
This view is looking north from I-64 crossing the Wabash River from Illinois into Indiana. The rusted bridge framework you see is for an old rail span that now extends only halfway across the river.
Looking north from I-64 again. This would be at Big Bayou, and here you see the framework of a bridge that carried the same rail line as the previous picture.
I-64 approaching New Albany, Ind. Lots of cool stuff is about to happen! I-64 also carries US 150 here.
I-64 is about to cross a bridge! I bet you're rubbing your hands together in excitement!
Why, it's the Sherman Minton Bridge! This double-decker structure carries I-64 across the Ohio River to Louisville. It opened in 1962 and was closed for months in 2011-12 because of cracks - leading many to fear the bridge would have to be replaced altogether.
Entering Kentucky on the Sherman Minton Bridge.
The end of the bridge.
Hahahahaha! Ted Nugent! What a washed-up has-been! This is on I-64 in Louisville.
I-64 still. The overpass up ahead is a pedestrian walkway at 23rd Street.
I-64 again. The bridge at left is the 14th Street Bridge, an 1868 vertical lift drawbridge that carries rail.
A great view of Louisville as we approach I-65!
Northeast on I-71 entering the rich Louisville suburb of Indian Hills. The highlight here isn't the sign's attempt to trick us into taking I-264 (which would be backtracking), but the situation up ahead where I-71 squeezes between those cliffs under that high overpass. The bridge is for Poplar Hill Court, a minor dead-end road.