Existing Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing Remains Closed Amid Safety Concern
For the second time in just over a year, the existing Mississippi River bridge at Lansing has been closed amid structural safety concerns.
Shortly after 2 pm Sunday (05.18), a post on the Iowa DOT Facebook page for “Mississippi River Bridge at Lansing” indicated, “The Iowa 9 / WI (Wisconsin) 82 Mississippi River Bridge is currently closed after our monitoring system detected movement in one of the piers that exceeded safety thresholds. The bridge will remain closed while we validate the sensor data and conduct a thorough engineering analysis to determine if it is safe to reopen.”
No timeline was provided on when the bridge might re-open, but the DOT said, “We expect to have more information by the end of the week and will provide updates as soon as possible.”
Motorists are advised to visit 511ia.org for the latest updates. As of 11 am Monday (05.19), the status remained “road is blocked because of emergency repairs are in progress.”
In February 2024, the bridge was closed because the structure had shifted, leading to a shutdown of a main artery connecting Iowa and Wisconsin for almost two months. Motorists were subjected to lengthy detours to cross between the two states; even pedestrian crossing over the bridge was cut off and the DOT offered a water taxi and shuttle service to transport passengers back-and-forth across the river.
Meanwhile, construction on the new Black Hawk Bridge over the Mississippi, just to the south of the existing bridge, continues pushing for completion by the Fall of 2026.
