UPDATED: I-74 Bridge Closures For 2019 Are Starting This Week

With each passing day, it seems the new I-74 bridge is coming together. It may not seem like a ton of progress, but trust me, if you're out of town for even a week, you're probably coming back to some surprisingly big changes.

Unfortunately, as progress continues, that means road closures and detours. If you take the I-74 bridge every day, you're going to start facing that this week. Beginning on January 8th, the eastbound River Dr. exit will be closed.

Starting on January 9th, the River Drive entry to the bridge will also be closed. According to signage posted just before the entrance, it'll be closed "intermittently." There's no way of knowing for sure how often that'll be, and there was no end date posted.

As we get further into 2019, the detours will get a bit more complicated and extensive. According to WQAD, the biggest changes won't start until Spring, but they'll last about two months.

UPDATE: I-74 Bridge officials reached out to us with more information regarding their timeline. According to them:

The eastbound (Illinois-bound) exit to River Drive will be closed from Jan. 8 to March 5. The westbound (Iowa-bound) on-ramp from River Drive will have intermittent 20-minute closures between 8:30 AM and 2:30 PM. A flagger will direct people to the 7th Ave on-ramp when the River Drive on-ramp is closed. The intermittent ramp closures are anticipated to take place between Jan. 8 and Jan. 23. More info at http://i74riverbridge.com/newsroom/

We'll keep you updated as we get more information.