The Interstate 74 Bridge Landscaping projects were two separate but interconnected projects. Iowa and Illinois each took on one part of the cooperative project, working together with our McCarthy Improvement team to beautify the landscape around the gorgeous new I-74 bridge. The project began after all major work had been completed on the new I-74 Viaduct and ramps.  With the old bridge demolished and the new one built, the goal was to make use of the land under the bridge that was unable to grow normal vegetation.

The Iowa Department of Transportation and Illinois Department of Transportation each designed portions of a 4,700-square-yard bike path. It snakes under the bridge through the piers on either side of the river. This links the bike path along the Mississippi River on both the Iowa and Illinois sides to the new bike path on the I-74 bridge. Erosion curbs and 10,000 tons of various colors of decorative rock, limestone flagstone, and boulders were added. Also installed was a decorative access control fence, 1,550 shrubs, 400 trees, and permanent drains throughout this area, making this a beautiful spot for cyclists to ride through.

All this, paired with 4 bio-cells, has taken an area that had drainage issues and no growth and transformed it into an extension of the local bike path network.