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Efforts Underway to Save Landmark Tulsa Bridge

File photo

 

  Preservationists say a historic but dilapidated Tulsa bridge that has been closed for almost four decades should be restored for pedestrian use.

Tulsa World reports the Route 66 Commission is proposing to reopen the 11th Street Arkansas River Bridge for the first time since 1980.

The commission's chairwoman Amanda DeCort asserts an active pedestrian bridge would be an ideal fit for the area.

The city's latest cost appraisal shows it would take $21 million to rebuild the overpass.

The commission says the now-renamed Route 66 Cyrus Avery Memorial Bridge was the first concrete and steel-reinforced overpass to cross the Arkansas River. The crossing was built in 1916 and stretched 1,470 feet.

The 11th Street Arkansas Bridge is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places.