Funding for new I-55 bridge 'welds anew the heart of a nation,' again, leaders say

At the Metal Museum on Thursday, state and local leaders joined Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt to celebrate plans to rebuild the Interstate 55 bridge that connects Tennessee and Arkansas and the $393.7 million federal investment awarded as part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act. On July 12, U.S. Rep. Steve Cohen and Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced the federal grant that would aid in the total funding of the project, which is estimated to cost between $800 million and $1 billion.

In May, the Tennessee Department of Transportation announced plans to replace the existing 75-year-old bridge to improve mobility and reduce crashes. The new bridge is projected to support approximately 64,000 vehicles by 2050.

The Whitehaven High School Band opened the bi-partisan gathering, which had a fitting view of the original I-55 bridge. Several leaders including Cohen, U.S. Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas, Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris, and West Memphis Mayor Marco McClendon spoke to the crowd, championing these infrastructure improvements.

"We don't ask for your voter registration when you cross our roads. Or on our bridges. We have no Democratic highways, no Republican bridges, just one transportation system that truly unites us and hopefully, we can find common ground on investing in infrastructure," Bhatt said.

The concept design will feature a 10-lane bridge, compared to the existing four-lane bridge. Three different concepts were presented with minor changes between the three including the number of towers and the gap between spans under the bridge for boats traveling underneath (a three-tower and two-tower concept were showcased), according to reporting by the Commercial Appeal.

Deputy Governor and TDOT Commissioner Butch Eley, read from a Dec. 18, 1949 special edition of The Commercial Appeal, from when the original I-55 bridge opened.

The story by Robert Talley read, "A mile-long ribbon of steel lace, woven by the sweat and toil of hundreds of men, this giant structure spells the beginning of a new era for the city and its surrounding region as it welds anew the heart of a nation."

"That is exactly what we are doing today," Eley went on to say.

Nell Rainer is a news intern with The Commercial Appeal. She can be reached at Nell.Rainer@commercialappeal.com.