Changes are expected to the Illinois-bound traffic patterns on the I-74 River Bridge.
The new changes, which take effect on Friday, December 18th, will begin a new pattern for Illinois-bound drivers to allow I-74 construction to continue.
Officials announced the following changes on what drivers will need to look out for:
- Get to know your route
- Two routes will be provided to get to Illinois – one will provide access to downtown Moline, and the other to Avenue of the Cities, John Deere Road, and I-280.
- Getting to downtown Moline
- Motorists on Illinois-bound I-74 must take Exit 4 to Grant Street/US 67 and continue on to State Street to take the on-ramp to the old bridge.
- Motorists in downtown Bettendorf can access the old bridge using the existing ramps at either State Street or Grant Street/US 67. After crossing the bridge, motorists will need to exit at either River Drive or 7th Avenue.
- Getting to Avenue of the Cities, John Deere Road, and I-280
- Motorists on Illinois-bound I-74 must take the route provided on the new bridge.
- Motorists in Iowa will need to access Illinois-bound I-74 at or north of Middle Road. Illinois-bound traffic will then take the new Iowa-bound bridge in a two-way, head-to-head traffic configuration. The first Illinois exit available on this route is Avenue of the Cities.
- A detour map can be found at this link or in the photo above.
- The new traffic pattern will be in place until the new Illinois-bound bridge is complete, however, there will be some access changes in early 2021.
- 7th Avenue & 19th Street
- 7th Avenue and northbound 19th Street will remain closed. After the Illinois-bound I-74 traffic change is in place, contractors will re-stripe the 7th Avenue/19th Street intersection. This work is weather-dependent, and updates will be provided as we get closer to the date.
Drivers are advised to drive with caution, pay attention to traffic signs and watch for changing traffic patterns. Transportation officials shared a video with a map explaining what the traffic changes will look like. You can view it below.