One of several redevelopment proposals for the west side of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge in St. Louis contains a replica of the long-gone toll house that stood on that site.
The Great Rivers Greenway, which controls the bridge as a vital link over the Mississippi River to a series of pedestrian and cycling trails, wants to improve the site and is asking for opinions about its proposals, including feedback from the Route 66 community.
Judy Dawson Wallmark wrote in a Facebook post this week:
The Route 66 Association of Missouri has been working with Great Rivers Greenway (GRG) to enhance visitation to the Chain of Rock’s Bridge. It’s been proposed to build a “toll house replica” at the C of R’s west entrance, and collect a fee to cross the bridge. It’s expected this could raise considerable funds from tourists who wish to cross the bridge. It’s further proposed to move the MO welcome center currently on the NW corner of I-270 & Riverview over to the “toll booth” site. These changes would result in additional revenue, create more interest and visitation to the site, and contribute to solving the current security issues which now detract from the area.
Break-ins and thefts from vehicles parked on the west side of the bridge have been a problem for years. Making the area more secure would do a lot to boost tourism numbers there.
Seth Treptow, communications manager for Great Rivers Greenway, wrote in an email that “things are largely conceptual and it is hard to provide any kind of detailed answers beyond that.”
The tollhouse replica concept is in this document here. The proposals for the west side of the bridge — which range from a “baseline” redevelopment to a full hotel — would cost from $2.1 million to over $10 million.
I’ve been unable to find when the tollhouse at the west end of the bridge was torn down, but the city of Madison, Illinois, stopped collecting tolls there in 1966, so it probably was razed not long after that.
The 5,300-foot-long bridge, built in 1929 to carry U.S. 66 from Illinois to Missouri, famously contains a 22-degree bend in the middle. The New Chain of Rocks Bridge that carried Interstate 270 opened in 1966, and the older bridge closed four years later.
The bridge eventually was used in a key scene of 1983’s “Escape from New York.” It appeared the span eventually would be demolished, but the costs of doing so were too prohibitive. In 1998, Trailnet leased the bridge and spent $4.5 million to shore it up for cycling and pedestrian use. The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge was named to the National Register of Historic Places in 2006.
(Old postcard image of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge and its tollhouse courtesy of 66Postcards.com)
Great idea and a grand project for the Greenway Project! Perhaps security personnel could be housed there and doughnuts provided for the area police to keep them buzzing the site.
Excellent idea! The bridge has almost become a new “ghost” presence on Route 66. Except when being used by some organization for a specific activity, it’s rarely visited or used these days. It’s simply too dangerous, with too many opportunities for nefarious activity — especially too early in the morning or at and after dusk. Illinois needs to get in on this project, also — the eastern entrance is becoming a problem, too. It would be a huge undertaking with innumerable difficulties, but it would sure be worth it. The bridge could become one of the premier Route 66 attractions in the midwest.
Well said, Bob. I grew up in St. Louis and always imagined a tee shirt for the tourists that announced, “I walked across the Mississippi River on Route 66!” This is such a treasure for the city and the Route 66 community.
That is a great idea.