Major MLK Bridge project postponed over high bid

The Illinois Department of Transportation announced today that work that would have shut down the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge for months has been postponed.

The project to rehabilitate the bridge deck had a bid submitted that was considerably higher than IDOT’s programmed amount. The work was to start in August.

The agency said the decision has been made to make revisions to the plans and readvertise the project later this year.

Since the work will require a full closure of the bridge for several months, IDOT is coordinating the schedule with MoDOT’s ongoing work on the Poplar Street Bridge in order to minimize the impacts to motorists traveling to and from St. Louis. It is now anticipated that the full closure will take place in the Summer of 2015.

More information will be available later this year after the project is readvertised, IDOT said.