HJ0007 LRB096 04735 AJT 14798 r

1
HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION

 
2     WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois General Assembly have
3 a high concern for the safety of those using Illinois roadways,
4 highways, and bridges; and
 
5     WHEREAS, In recent years bridge safety has made headlines
6 across the nation regarding several areas of concern, including
7 structure, design, and traffic volume; and
 
8     WHEREAS, Illinois has seen too many fatal accidents on its
9 bridges and bridges of neighboring states, especially bridges
10 crossing the Mississippi River; specifically, there have been
11 fatal accidents on the Martin Luther King Bridge connection
12 between Illinois and Missouri that crosses the Mississippi
13 River from East St. Louis to St. Louis, and the William
14 McKinley Bridge that also connects Illinois to its neighboring
15 state of Missouri, crossing the Mississippi River from Venice
16 to St. Louis; and
 
17     WHEREAS, One problem with these two named bridges is that
18 they are both narrower than the width recommended by modern
19 professional standards; the Martin Luther King bridge is 40
20 feet wide and the William McKinley Bridge is 55 feet wide; and
 
21     WHEREAS, The four lanes at both the Martin Luther King

 

 

HJ0007 - 2 - LRB096 04735 AJT 14798 r

1 Bridge and the William McKinley Bridge cause cars driving in
2 the center lanes to pass each other head-on at distances as
3 close as 18 inches apart; and
 
4     WHEREAS, Twelve people have tragically lost their lives in
5 crossover accidents in 10 years on the Martin Luther King
6 Bridge, and six people have been killed in crossover accidents
7 on the McKinley Bridge; and
 
8     WHEREAS, The Illinois Department of Transportation has
9 acknowledged that it is not currently investigating ways to
10 prevent crossover accidents because it believes the bridges are
11 too narrow for crossover barriers; and
 
12     WHEREAS, Innovation has made breakthroughs in creating
13 systems, such as narrow cable barriers or moveable barriers,
14 that have shown to be effective in preventing crossover
15 accidents; and protective barriers are becoming common on
16 Mississippi River bridges; the design for the proposed new
17 Mississippi River bridge calls for a concrete barrier, and the
18 Golden Gate Bridge, in San Francisco Bay, California, is
19 scheduled to install a new moveable barrier; and yet neither
20 the Martin Luther King Bridge nor the William McKinley Bridge
21 currently have any barrier or protection between the passing
22 lanes; therefore, be it
 

 

 

HJ0007 - 3 - LRB096 04735 AJT 14798 r

1     RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE
2 NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, THE
3 SENATE CONCURRING HEREIN, that the Illinois Department of
4 Transportation study the issue of crossover barriers of all
5 kinds for the Martin Luther King Bridge and William McKinley
6 Bridge and make a report of its findings to the 96th General
7 Assembly no later than six months after the adoption of this
8 resolution; and be it further
 
9     RESOLVED, That copies of the Department's report be sent to
10 the Illinois Secretary of State and the Secretary of the
11 Missouri Department of Transportation; and be it further
 
12     RESOLVED, That a copy of this resolution be sent to the
13 Illinois Secretary of Transportation.