Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing FAQs

Yes, if the bridge wasn’t safe, it would be immediately closed until the necessary repairs could be made.

Current traffic count is approximately 2,200 vehicles per day.

It is anticipated to fully open to traffic by the fall of 2027.

Underground construction of the new bridge has caused lateral movement of the current bridge making it unsafe to continue that type of work.  That means the current bridge will be closed and removed in the fall/winter of 2025 so underground construction can safely resume.

Yes, but there will likely be temporary river closures during portions of construction.

The city of Lansing, in conjunction with Main Street Lansing, is currently raising funds to provide for special lighting that the city would control. The goal is to raise $300,000. For more information or to contribute, please go to Blackhawkbridgelights.org.

An in-depth study was done to determine if rehabilitating the bridge would make the most sense. The study determined that replacing the bridge is the best option.

Yes, the Iowa DOT determined the current bridge at Lansing eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in 1995. The Iowa State Historic Preservation Officer agreed and confirmed that determination in 2016. This historic designation helped drive the design of the new bridge to closely resemble the old bridge.

Both states along with the Federal Highway Administration have agreed to complete a number of efforts to keep the historic look of the bridge. Those efforts include the replacement of the bridge with a similarly designed bridge, completing additional historic research, developing and producing a mini-documentary film about the bridge.

Yes, Front, Henry, and Hale streets will be closed during certain parts of the construction process, but not the entire time. The street closures may be up to several months at a time. Sidewalks in the area will also be closed at times during construction.

Yes, the DOT bought and removed two houses just north of the current bridge to build the new bridge.

The contractor will remove the steel deck and other strategic pieces of the bridge before using explosives to take down the rest of the structure.

The pieces of the old bridge will be owned by the contractor and some pieces will be donated to local groups.

Letting results can be found at Bidx.com. Please note that the low bid rarely represents the final cost of the construction project.

Trucks cause vertical stress on a bridge, the movement/stress we are seeing is lateral (side to side), so closing the bridge to truck traffic would not address this issue. Plus current weight restrictions on large trucks have protected the bridge for years.

To strictly comply with federal regulation we had to have the least impact possible on local cultural and environmental resources. This left us with three options: permanently close the crossing and do not replace the bridge, demolish the existing bridge and then build the new bridge in the same location, or build the new bridge immediately next to the existing bridge.  To limit local impact, we decided to build the new bridge next to the old one so the current bridge could stay open as long as possible.”

The bridge is safe now, but the lateral movement has put it in a condition where the underground construction has been put on hold and cannot continue safely. That is why we’ll remove the bridge before underground construction resumes. This is the only safe way to continue the process.

In the past, we used a water taxi during short-term closures, and it worked pretty well for most folks. But since this closure will last longer, we’re looking into a car ferry.

There’s a lot to figure out first—like finding the right boat or barge, a crew to run it, and safe spots on both sides of the river for loading and unloading. We also need approvals from the railroad and federal environmental agencies before we can build a landing area for the ferry.