John Badman|The Telegraph Relocating southbound U.S. 67 to a higher location, next to the northbound lanes, has forced workers to pulverize part of the old Missouri approach to the Clark Bridge. The section is being removed to allow for storm water sewer installation for the new highway. Eventually, traffic will be on a reconfigured approach on the Missouri side of the bridge. Meanwhile traffic is reduced to one lane northbound during this phase of construction for the $3.9 million project expected to be completed this year.

WEST ALTON — Relocating southbound U.S. 67 to a higher location, next to the northbound lanes, has forced workers to pulverize part of the old Missouri approach to the Clark Bridge into Alton.

The section is being removed to allow for storm water sewer installation for the new highway. Eventually, traffic will be on a reconfigured approach on the Missouri side of the bridge.

Meanwhile traffic is reduced to one lane northbound during this phase of construction.

The project, estimated to cost about $3.9 million, will elevate southbound traffic for about 3 miles after it crosses the Clark Bridge from Alton into Missouri. The project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

The elevated section will eliminate minor to moderate flooding, but will not prevent large scale floods from covering the lanes. The new lanes will be alongside the already significantly higher northbound lanes.  

The work will also include improvements for a safer interchange at U.S. 67 and Riverlands Way where many people in the Alton area go to purchase gasoline.

John Badman is a 1982 graduate of SIU-Carbondale, with a major in cinema and photography and a minor in law enforcement administration of justice. He has worked at The Telegraph in Alton full-time for 39 years and has been named the National Press Photographers Association's Region-5 Photographer of the Year six times.