To Be Blunt…

Blunt and Blagojevich sign bridge agreement

St. Louis, MO – The governors of Illinois and Missouri signed an agreement today to build a new four-lane, toll free bridge over the Mississippi River by 2015.

Governors Matt Blunt and Rod Blagojevich say the bridge will have exponential benefits for the two states.

Blunt credited the work of state lawmakers on both sides of the river for finding a compromise after years of deadlock.

"This bridge will help to ease some of the burden that exists today; it will help to clean up a potential bottleneck at the Poplar Street Bridge and I am thrilled that we have all been able to work together in a bi-partisan, bi-state way."

In order to completely fund their portion of the project, the Illinois Legislature still has to approve a capital works bill that would direct $49 million toward the bridge.

In a room filled with Illinois state lawmakers, Blagojevich took the opportunity to lobby on behalf of the spending bill.

"I hope that those of us in Illinois, the political leaders, can do on this issue of a capital bill, what Governor Blunt and I are doing with regard to the Mississippi River Bridge, and that is come together in a bi-partisan way and do something that's necessary to get our economy moving."

Illinois hasn't passed a capital bill in 8 years, but State Representative Jay Hoffman from Vandalia seemed confident that both the bridge and the spending bill will proceed quickly.

"We're going to pass a capital bill in Illinois and I can assure you that the rest of that money will be available and we will make sure that this bridge moves forward in a timely fashion."

Illinois has already committed $250 million toward the project.

The new cable-stayed bridge will divert Interstate 70 one mile north of the Martin Luther King Bridge.

Missouri will assume the lead in both design and construction. All contracts will be awarded according to a competitive bid process.

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