Interstate 74 Quad Cities Corridor Study Scott County Iowa And Rock Island County Illinois

The Iowa and Illinois Departments of Transportation (DOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) are proposing improvements to the Interstate 74 (I-74) corridor in the Quad Cities from Avenue of the Cities (23rd Avenue) in Moline, Illinois, to 1 mile north of 53rd Street in Davenport, Iowa. The U.S. Coast Guard is a cooperating agency. The study corridor traverses the cities of Moline, Bettendorf, and Davenport and includes a crossing of the Mississippi River. Though I-74 is predominantly an east-west interstate, it is on a north-south alignment through the study corridor. As such, in this document direction of travel along I-74 is described as northbound or southbound to distinguish it from east-west traffic movement along cross roads. The I-74 study corridor is characterized by a mix of residential, commercial, and industrial development. Residential land use is present throughout the project corridor, but there are concentrations south of the commercial area in Moline and north of the commercial area in Bettendorf. Industrial land uses are mainly located along the river in Moline and Bettendorf. Parkland and open space can be found along the river in Moline and Bettendorf, and along Duck Creek in Bettendorf and Davenport. I-74 is the primary north-south roadway through the study area. As such, it carries a large amount of commuter and commercial traffic. The proposed improvements to I-74 include: Providing additional capacity on I-74; Improving the Mississippi River crossing; Improving the six existing service interchanges; Enhancing the connecting arterial roadway system; Improving opportunities for transit, bike and pedestrian, and intermodal connections.

The 1935 Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge is being documented at this time to fulfill the requirements of the Memorandum of Agreement regarding the removal of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge and the Iowana Farms Milk Company building for the proposed improvements to Interstate 74 in Bettendorf, Iowa, and Moline, Illinois. The 1959 twin suspension bridge will be removed as well, but it was determined to be ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places. Discussion of the history of the 1959 twin span is included, however, in the current report as part of the overall history of the Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. Fieldwork for the documentation occurred in November 2009 and October 2010. Limitations on photography included limited shoreline access on the Illinois side, making good views of the bridge from the south somewhat challenging. Also, photographs on the bridge deck were not possible because of interstate traffic and prohibitions on pedestrian traffic.