The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,340 miles (3,766 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the thirteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about 18 miles (29 km) north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 25,676 at the 2020 census. It is a part of the River Bend area in the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area. It is famous for its limestone bluffs along the river north of the city, as the former location of the state penitentiary, and for its role preceding and during the American Civil War. It was the site of the last Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas debate in October 1858. The former state penitentiary in Alton was used during the Civil War to hold up to 12,000 Confederate prisoners of war.
Bethalto is a village in Madison County, Illinois, United States. Bethalto, like the rest of Madison County, is part of the Illinois Metro East portion of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area.
U.S. Route 67 is a major north–south U.S. highway which extends for 1,560 miles (2,511 km) in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues south as Mexican Federal Highway 16 upon crossing the Rio Grande. The northern terminus is at U.S. Route 52 in Sabula, Iowa. US 67 crosses the Mississippi River twice along its routing. The first crossing is at West Alton, Missouri, where US 67 uses the Clark Bridge to reach Alton, Illinois. About 240 miles (390 km) to the north, US 67 crosses the river again at the Rock Island Centennial Bridge between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. Additionally, the route crosses the Missouri River via the Lewis Bridge a few miles southwest of the Clark Bridge.
The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and the grounds of the Gateway Arch, to the south. The bridge is named for its designer and builder, James Buchanan Eads. Work on the bridge began in 1867, and it was completed in 1874. The Eads Bridge was the first bridge across the Mississippi south of the Missouri River. Earlier bridges were located north of the Missouri, where the Mississippi is smaller. None of the earlier bridges survive, which means that the Eads Bridge is also the oldest bridge on the river.
The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge is a bridge across the Mississippi River in the United States between St. Clair County, Illinois, and the city of St. Louis, Missouri. Built between April 19, 2010, and July 2013, the bridge opened on February 9, 2014. The cable-stayed bridge has a main span of 1,500 feet (460 m).
The old Chain of Rocks Bridge spans the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. The eastern end of the bridge is on Chouteau Island, while the western end is on the Missouri shoreline. Its most notable feature is a 22-degree bend occurring at the middle of the crossing, which was found to be necessary during construction due to both the presence of a water intake and the inability of parts of the bedrock of the river to carry the weight of the bridge.
Metro East is a region in southern Illinois that contains eastern and northern suburbs and exurbs of St. Louis, Missouri, United States. It encompasses five Southern Illinois counties in the St. Louis Metropolitan Statistical Area. The region's most populated city is Belleville, with 45,000 residents. The Metro East is the second largest urban area in Illinois after the Chicago metropolitan area and, as of the 2000 census, the population of the Metro East statistical area was 599,845 residents, a figure that had risen to above 700,000 in 2010. The significant growth in the Metro East is mainly due to people in smaller outlying towns in Illinois moving to the area for better economic/job opportunities.
The Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge, formerly known as the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge and popularly as the Poplar Street Bridge or PSB, completed in 1967, is a 647-foot-long (197 m) deck girder bridge across the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. The bridge arrives on the Missouri shore line just south of the Gateway Arch.
The Clark Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge across the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. Named after explorer William Clark like the bridge it replaced, the cable-stayed bridge opened in 1994. It carries U.S. Route 67 across the river. It is the northernmost river crossing in the St. Louis metropolitan area.
The New Chain of Rocks Bridge is a pair of bridges across the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. It was constructed in 1966 to bypass the Chain of Rocks Bridge immediately to the south. It originally carried traffic for Bypass US 66 and currently carries traffic for Interstate 270. The bridge opened to traffic on September 2, 1966.
Transportation in Greater St. Louis, Missouri includes road, rail, ship, and air transportation modes connecting the bi-state St. Louis metropolitan area with surrounding communities throughout the Midwest, national transportation networks, and international locations. The Greater St. Louis region also supports a multi-modal transportation network that includes bus, paratransit, and light rail service in addition to shared-use paths, bike lanes and greenways.
Melvin Price Locks and Dam is a dam and two locks at river mile 200.78 on the Upper Mississippi River, about 17 miles (27 km) north of Saint Louis, Missouri. The collocated National Great Rivers Museum, explains the structure and its engineering.
Lock and Dam No. 19 is a lock and dam located on the Upper Mississippi River near Keokuk, Iowa. In 2004, the facility was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as Lock and Dam No. 19 Historic District, #04000179 covering 1,605 acres (650 ha), 7 buildings, 12 structures, 1 object. The lock is owned and operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The dam is owned and operated by Ameren Missouri.
Lock and Dam No. 26 was a lock and dam located near Alton, Illinois on the Upper Mississippi River around river mile 202.5.
The Red Line is the older and longer line of the MetroLink light rail service in Greater St. Louis. It serves 29 stations across three counties and two states.
U.S. Route 67 is the portion of a north-south highway in Missouri that starts at the Arkansas state line south of Neelyville and ends at the Illinois state line northeast of West Alton.
The Alton Bridge was a railroad bridge that carried the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy across the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri, and Alton, Illinois. It was located 100 yards (91 m) upriver from, and parallel to, the Old Clark Bridge. The bridge was built between 1892 and 1894 and was removed shortly after the line was abandoned in 1988. With a total length of 2,060 feet (630 m), it consisted of eight through-truss segments—six Pratt trusses, one Pennsylvania truss, and one pivot-swinging truss.
The Champ Clark Bridge was a five-span truss bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Louisiana, Missouri with the state of Illinois via US 54. It opened in 1928. In 2019, the bridge was replaced by a new bridge of the same name.
U.S. Route 67 (US 67) is a component of the United States Numbered Highway System that connects Presidio, Texas, to Sabula, Iowa. In Illinois, it serves the western region of the state known as Forgottonia, named for the lack of regional transportation and infrastructure projects. The highway begins its path through the state by crossing the Clark Bridge over the Mississippi River from Missouri at Alton and heads northward through Jerseyville and Jacksonville before it crosses the Illinois River at Beardstown. The northern half of the route serves Macomb and Monmouth before it enters the Quad Cities. It leaves the state at Rock Island by crossing the Rock Island Centennial Bridge over the Mississippi River into Davenport, Iowa.
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