El Reno Mayor Matt White and Secretary of Transportation and ODOT Executive Director Tim Gatz joined the El Reno City Council and community members to celebrate the opening of the $10-million reconstruction project. This new, four-lane bridge with five-foot protected sidewalks replaces a structurally deficient bridge that originally opened September 20, 1946.
“This bridge serves as a gateway to the heart of El Reno while also providing a safe crossing for vehicles and pedestrians over a railroad line,” Gatz said. “Connecting communities to highway corridors and interstates, as this bridge does, is critical for both safe transportation and economic opportunities. We are excited to open the US-81 Rock Island bridge back up to traffic today while honoring the city’s rich Route 66 transportation history.”
The city’s connection with Route 66 is on display through aesthetic elements added along the bridge’s walls and decorative pillars. Route 66 co-locates with US-81 along this corridor, meaning travelers from across the globe interested in America’s Mother Road often drive this bridge as part of their exploration of the historic route.
“It is a wonderful project between the City of El Reno and ODOT. We cannot thank ODOT enough for allowing us to be a part of the process,” White said. “This bridge project allowed us to keep our identity as a wonderful community with rich history, yet also show our commitment to embracing the future.”
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At age 15, El Reno resident Dean Rinehart, now 90, attended the original dedication in 1946 with his father, state Senator Jim Rinehart, who advocated for the original funding to build the bridge. Dean Rinehart highlighted the history and meaning of the bridge to the community, including what it was like to skate and play with other children on the partially built structure during World War II. Work had stopped for about three years due to a nationwide steel shortage during the war.
“This is an important day,” Rinehart said. “We had been stymied by the war. It hurt to do anything, but this bridge was an opportunity to improve the city and allowed it to expand and bring in traffic. Opening up this route helped a lot of people.”
Much like the opening day in 1946, the recent event featured the El Reno High School Marching Band leading a parade across the bridge. New to the procession this time were representatives of the El Reno Cruisers driving classic cars on the bridge to complete the ceremony.
Work by Sherwood Construction Co. Inc., of Tulsa, and Frontier Bridge Inc. began in February 2020 with the 382-foot-long bridge recently fully opening to traffic.
