The Interstate’s Impact on East St. Louis

Despite nearly two years of planning between St. Louis Mayor Raymond Tucker and Rex Whitton of the Missouri State Highway Commission, East St. Louis leaders only learned of the interstate bridge by way of a newspaper article five days prior to the public announcement in downtown St. Louis. Perhaps more concerning for East St. Louis leaders was the fact that the St. Louis-based engineering firm of H.W. Lochner and Company sent their plans to the Illinois Division of Highways in September 22, 1959, but East St. Louis engineers or planners never received a copy.[1]

The small Illinois city on the eastern shore of Mississippi River had never been part of the new metropolitan conceptualization of St. Louis as the Gateway to the West. Even the Bi-State Development Agency, which was supposed to promote cooperation between parties on both sides of the river, did not schedule any regional meetings prior to January 1960.[2] There had not been a single conference or meeting between any state or federal highway official and any East St. Louis representative.

Doubtless, the bi-state region needed another bridge that could accommodate the growth in traffic that came as the regional population increased and more people bought automobiles. In fact, with approximately 31 percent of the region’s population growth in the 1950s located in the Illinois counties of Madison and St. Clair, Metro East commuters could argue that they needed better vehicular access to the variety of metropolitan amenities – downtown St. Louis, the airport, and the multitude of employment locations. For their part, East St. Louis leaders believed that highways would benefit the city and planners likewise predicted that it would spur development, increase downtown sales revenue, and facilitate population growth.