It took just a brief moment Friday to cut the ribbon to open up the new Veterans Memorial Bridge across the Missouri River.
The process to get there was somewhat longer.
“It’s been in the works since 1996,” said Steve Oltmans, chief of staff for Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle. “That was the first effort to plan it. To get $88 million together is not easy.”
The money, most of it from the federal government, did come though and hundreds gathered Friday morning to see the end product.
“It’s fantastic,” said Iowa Gov. Chet Culver. “It’s quite a work of art.”
The four-lane bridge replaces a narrow two-lane structure that was built in 1936. It still connects on the Omaha side at the intersection of 13th Street and Missouri Avenue like the old one and aligns with a new four-lane Veterans Memorial Highway on the Council Bluffs side.
The bridge features four vehicle traffic lanes, two in each direction with each lane 12-feet wide. The older structure’s lanes were slightly more than 10-feet across. A protected walk and bike lane runs along the north side of the bridge.
The new bridge also features an arched truss that looks similar to the frame of the old structure.
“It’s been a two-year work of progress,” said Bruce Husted, Douglas County commander for the American Legion. “I take my hat off to the contractors. It was like watching a musical play in motion.”
Husted and Culver among the speakers at the morning ceremony. Most noted that it was fitting the opening of Veterans Memorial Bridge ushered in the Memorial Day weekend.
“We are grateful to your service every day,” Culver told a large contingent of veterans who were seated in the front for the ceremonies.
The structure is more than steel and cement, several speakers said. It’s an investment in the area’s future.
“The bridge will encourage commerce between Council Bluffs and Omaha,” Culver said.
“This bridge is an important project for both sides of the river,” added Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.
The bridge also could become an important alternative route for motorists during the planned reconstruction of nearby Interstates 29-80, a project that should start in the next few years, Council Bluffs Public Works Director Greg Reeder said.
“This will be a great alternative route,” he said.
When the previous bridge opened, it was unofficially called the South Omaha Bridge. The narrow two-lane road on the Council Bluffs side was known as the South Omaha Bridge Road.
In 1993, Omahan John Fenton, a Korean War veteran, and Vietnam veteran Roger Busch of Council Bluffs, began an effort to rename the bridge to honor area veterans. Their efforts were stalled temporarily upon Fenton’s death a year later, Husted said, but a committee of area veterans was formed to pursue Fenton’s dream.
Following Friday’s speeches, members of various motorcycle and vintage car clubs took the ceremonial first drives on the bridge. Culver took a ride in the first car, followed by Heineman.
Veterans Memorial Bridge was then opened to the public.
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