The Southeast 30th Street bridge, which had been closed since August 2020, has reopened.
The bridge is located south of the Iowa State Fairgrounds and typically has a lot of traffic during the fair, which starts Aug. 12.

The bridge, which goes over the Union Pacific Railroad, was built in 1958 and improvement hadn’t been made to it since 1980, according to a city news release. The bridge and roadway had been rated in poor condition.

The more than $10.2 million in improvements included:

• Complete removal and replacement of the bridge deck.
• Widening of existing sidewalks for safer pedestrian traffic.
• Repair and replacement of bridge support columns.
• Steel beam refinishing and sewer improvements.
• Full roadway reconstruction of East 30th Street north of the bridge to Dean Avenue.

Traffic on the bridge now includes two northbound lanes and one southbound lane.

Editor’s note: This item was updated Aug. 6, 2021 to include accurate information about the cost of improvements. A previous version of the story included inaccurate cost information.