<p>The Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission awarded the first construction project for the<a href="http://www.newriverbridge.org/"> New Mississippi River Bridge </a>during their monthly meeting June 3, 2009.<br /><br /><img alt="New Mississippi River Bridge" class="image-left" height="303" src="/images/uploads/st.-louis-bridge.jpg" style="float: left;" width="266" />The commission awarded a project to remove and replace the Madison Street and St. Louis Avenue bridges over Interstate 70 in downtown St. Louis to<br />Fred Weber, Inc., for $4.44 million. The majority of work on this project will start after I-64 reopens between Kingshighway and Interstate 170. Crews will remove the St. Louis bridge first; after work is complete the rebuild that bridge, crews will remove and replace the Madison Street Bridge. During<br />work to remove the Madison Street Bridge, crews will also remove the Cass Avenue Bridge in preparation for replacing that bridge later in 2010.<br /><br />This work is part of preliminary work on the $640 million Mississippi River Bridge. The new bridge is expected to reduce severe traffic congestion and vehicle crashes on the Poplar Street Bridge (PSB). Currently, PSB carries combined traffic for Interstates 55, 64 and 70. In 2004, traffic counts on<br />the PSB average 120,000 vehicles daily.</p>