Bison Bridge: The Story of the Quad Cities’ Failed National Park

In 2020, the Illinois Department of Transportation started making plans to replace the I-80 bridge between Iowa and Illinois. During this process, one group proposed an idea for how to use the old bridge: turn it into a wildlife refuge known as Bison Bridge.

Local city governments and their residents supported the Bison Bridge project, and national news outlets even covered the project. With all of this support, how could this project fail?

The Plan

While many groups were focusing on the plans for the future I-80 bridge, Chad Pregracke, a local conservationist, was focused on what would happen to the old bridge. Founder of a Mississippi River clean-up organization, he was no stranger to conservation efforts in the area. Instead of tearing the old bridge down, he wanted it to stay standing. He proposed the idea of repurposing the old I-80 bridge into a wildlife crossing for American bison while allowing people to walk the bridge and view these bison in a safe, natural habitat for these animals. 

A concept design for the Bison Bridge

Chad Pregracke’s new group, the Bison Bridge Foundation, helped to propose and develop his plan. The plan was to have two sides to the bridge: One side for the bison to roam, and the other side for pedestrians to safely walk and view the bison. Both sides of the bridge would lead to larger areas of land for the bison to roam. The initial plan for this project would have made it the longest man-made wildlife crossing in the entire world, an impressive feat. This idea would allow the bridge to be repurposed in a way that could increase tourism for the Quad Cities while being incredibly environmentally friendly. 

A chart of data collected from a short survey

An Increase in Tourism

To be honest, while the Quad Cities has a lot of things to do, there aren’t many larger attractions to draw people in from far away — something that the bison bridge aims to solve. This idea would have created a massive boost in the Quad Cities’ tourism and revenue because of how expansive this project aimed to be. 

The Bison Bridge Foundation wanted to turn this project into something important. They even wanted to turn it into a National Park site — a place that people from around the country would travel just to see. The potential for this project as a long-lasting park that could help our community was huge. Everyone involved in this project campaigned for its success for years, but ultimately, it failed in the end.

A chart of data collected from a short survey

Over time, people have forgotten this project. In preparation for this article, I sent out a survey to gauge people’s interest and knowledge in this project. Overall, 55.8% of respondents hadn’t ever heard of this project, while only 32.5% were somewhat familiar with it. Only a small 11.7% of respondents were very familiar with this. Additionally, I asked if people would be willing to support a local national park. Now, although there are a lot of details to consider when supporting or not supporting something like this, 53.2% of respondents still said that they would support a plan for a local national park, while 40.3% said maybe. All of this data shows that while many people are willing to support something like this, not very many students are still aware of this project. 

The End of a Dream

This project was something that people loved the idea of. After three years, the Bison Bridge Foundation had won support from many people in the area. Local city governments and their residents supported the Bison Bridge project, and national news outlets even covered the project. With all of this support, how could this project fail?

In the end, the Iowa and Illinois Departments of Transportation both decided to opt for a new I-80 bridge plan that would involve the destruction of the current bridge, making it impossible for the Bison Bridge project to exist. This announcement in 2023 saddened many of the project’s supporters. Currently, the old I-80 still stands and is in use today. As time has passed since the announcement in 2023, the construction of a new bridge has been pushed back, and its start and completion seem to be nowhere in sight. There may not be much of a chance for this project to continue, but the historic story of its local development and what it set out to accomplish is still worthwhile to learn. And who knows? With all the delays to the new bridge, there’s still some hope left that the Bison Bridge can one day come to life.