HJ0007 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HJ0007 LRB096 04735 AJT 14798 r

HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois General Assembly have a high concern for the safety of those using Illinois roadways, highways, and bridges; and

WHEREAS, In recent years bridge safety has made headlines across the nation regarding several areas of concern, including structure, design, and traffic volume; and

WHEREAS, Illinois has seen too many fatal accidents on its bridges and bridges of neighboring states, especially bridges crossing the Mississippi River; specifically, there have been fatal accidents on the Martin Luther King Bridge connection between Illinois and Missouri that crosses the Mississippi River from East St. Louis to St. Louis, and the William McKinley Bridge that also connects Illinois to its neighboring state of Missouri, crossing the Mississippi River from Venice to St. Louis; and

WHEREAS, One problem with these two named bridges is that they are both narrower than the width recommended by modern professional standards; the Martin Luther King bridge is 40 feet wide and the William McKinley Bridge is 55 feet wide; and

WHEREAS, The four lanes at both the Martin Luther King Bridge and the William McKinley Bridge cause cars driving in the center lanes to pass each other head-on at distances as close as 18 inches apart; and

WHEREAS, Twelve people have tragically lost their lives in crossover accidents in 10 years on the Martin Luther King Bridge, and six people have been killed in crossover accidents on the McKinley Bridge; and

WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Transportation has acknowledged that it is not currently investigating ways to prevent crossover accidents because it believes the bridges are too narrow for crossover barriers; and

WHEREAS, Innovation has made breakthroughs in creating systems, such as narrow cable barriers or moveable barriers, that have shown to be effective in preventing crossover accidents; and protective barriers are becoming common on Mississippi River bridges; the design for the proposed new Mississippi River bridge calls for a concrete barrier, and the Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco Bay, California, is scheduled to install a new moveable barrier; and yet neither the Martin Luther King Bridge nor the William McKinley Bridge currently have any barrier or protection between the passing lanes; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Department of Transportation study the issue of crossover barriers of all kinds for the Martin Luther King Bridge and William McKinley Bridge and make a report of its findings to the 96th General Assembly no later than six months after the adoption of this resolution; and be it further

RESOLVED, That copies of the Department's report be sent to the Illinois Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Missouri Department of Transportation; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the Illinois Secretary of Transportation.