As a lover of transportation, cities and days gone by, I love finding relics the remind us of how we've changed -- and what we have lost. It also reminds us of the importance of protecting these historical structures so they can continue to tell their stories about how residents of our region once lived.
There are few of the iconic arched "Luten design" bridges left in the Kansas City area. These were among the first concrete bridges built, showcasing how innovative and modern the Internurban was when it was built in 1911.
Here is what I could find:
This bridge sits where the railroad crossed Line Creek in Riverside, Missouri. Once hidden in the dense forest around the creek, the path to this bridge is now being cleared for use as a recreational trail, a fantastic adaptive reuse for this impressive structure.
This single arch sits on private property near the center of tiny Avondale, Missouri. The bridge is covered with vegetation but remains in remarkably good shape despite years of neglect.
This double arch sits conspicuously next to Interurban Road, the auto route resulting in the closure of the Interurban and the paving of its right of way. Interurban remains a popular route for cyclists because of its calm, meandering route. This bridge carried auto traffic over its single-lane width until it was replaced last year by a modern bridge. In a beautiful location, I'm hopeful this bridge can be preserved as the centerpiece of a public space. It is located just north of KCI.
Beyond Interurban Road, there are still areas where you can identify the railroad's path. It followed Waukomis Drive's current route through the Northland and where Waukomis meets 68th Street, you can still see the path on the undeveloped land to the north. This right-of-way has been included in recent light rail proposals as a path connecting KCI to the city.
For more information on the KC-Clay County-St. Joe Interurban, check out this excellent site dedicated to it.
I hope to continue to discover these modern relics and share them in the future. If you have ideas on things you'd like to see me explore, please let me know!
Beyond Interurban Road, there are still areas where you can identify the railroad's path. It followed Waukomis Drive's current route through the Northland and where Waukomis meets 68th Street, you can still see the path on the undeveloped land to the north. This right-of-way has been included in recent light rail proposals as a path connecting KCI to the city.
For more information on the KC-Clay County-St. Joe Interurban, check out this excellent site dedicated to it.
I hope to continue to discover these modern relics and share them in the future. If you have ideas on things you'd like to see me explore, please let me know!
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6 comments:
Great post! Another of many great clues about KC's Interurban.
The single arch bridge sits on private property? How cool would that be to have that in your yard???
I enjoyed your blog. I lived in the Line Creek Area as a youngster in Century North Apartments,(now called Englewood Apartments. When we were young we fished,swam,played hockey on Line Creek. At the North End of the Apartment complex you could go down to the creek where there stood and old bridge. Now days don't think there really is anything left of it. My question is in doing your research did you run across a map showing the railroad path. We couldn't figure out the direction trains would of been going from the bridge. straight across the bridge was an extremely tall hill (facing west) and we thought no way a train would go up that inclined hill.
To try and answer Mr.Grant Adams' question, the interurban ran North - South and parallel to Waukomis Dr. just inside the apartment property. The bridge you were asking about was probably for other modes of travel.
Yes, it was for vehicles I found out from the Line Creek Blogger. It is actually the N.W. 56th street before changes were made. I would of loved to have seen cars trying to make it up that hill in the winter time. Thank you for answering me.
There's also a beautiful little Luten cement bridge left over from the Interurban route on the new Line Creek Trail just north of the Platte Brook entry point.
Major kudos to the city/trail crew that opted to leave it (while putting steel-pipe pass-through under the trail right beside the old bridge!)
A significant part of that trail from Platte Brook up to where the trail makes a hard right (at old Drennon Lake damn) is on the Interurban right-of-way.
Beauty
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