Secretary awarded piece of old I-74 Bridge he helped replace

Bi-state leaders seized the chance at the inaugural QCBJ Transportation and Infrastructure Seminar to formally thank “living legend” Ray LaHood for laying the foundation for the Quad Cities’ new $1 billion, award-winning Interstate 74 Bridge. Mr. LaHood, the nation’s 16th transportation secretary, provided the keynote for the event at Bally’s Quad Cities Casino & Hotel, Rock Island, where he was introduced by Greg Hass, president and CEO of Valley Construction, the Platinum Sponsor of the seminar. Mr. Hass called the former transportation secretary a “living legend and a friend who got his start right here in the Quad Cities.” Mr. LaHood, an alumnus from Bradley University in Peoria, and a former school teacher, came to the Quad Cities region as director of Rock Island County Youth Services. He later served as chief planner at what was then called the Bi-State Metropolitan Planning Commission. “There’s only one other place in Illinois that I love as much as Peoria, which is my home, where I was born and raised and where my wife and I now reside,” Mr. LaHood told local leaders and seminar attendees. “It’s the Quad Cities because the Quad Cities, as Greg said, gave me an opportunity for public service that obviously led to other opportunities.” They included working for GOP Congressman Tom Railsback of Moline, and GOP House Minority Leader Bob Michel of Peoria, and later serving as representative in Mr. Michel’s 18th Congressional District for 14 years. Then, on Jan. 23, 2009, Mr. Hass said, “President Barack Obama in a very rare move appointed an across-the-aisle Republican to be his secretary of transportation.” That proved critical to the eventual completion of the I-74 bridge, local leaders said. “I truly don’t believe we’ve ever thanked our guest enough for this great addition to our area, which we plan to do today,” Mr. Hass said at the QCBJ event. Mr. LaHood also was in town previously for the official daylong celebration and ribbon cutting on the new bridge on Dec. 1, 2021. Numerous speakers there lauded his support for the bridge that also included signing off on $67 million in federal funds that provided the seed money for the long-awaited project. But it wasn’t until the April 11 event – hosted by the Quad Cities Regional Business Journal – that those leaders had the chance to provide a more lasting acknowledgment of that pivotal support. The sculpture award presented by seven QC community leaders was created by Rock Island-based Valley Construction from a large piece of the original I-74 bridge and adorned with keys to seven bi-state cities and counties. During its presentation, Bettendorf City Administrator Decker Ploehn said “A lot of people in this room went to D.C. for a lot of years” seeking funding for what was then a $750 million project. “We had success, but we weren’t quite there.” Then a lobbyist advised them to reach out to the then new transportation secretary. Mr. Ploehn cold-called Mr. LaHood’s office, and was quickly patched through. A meeting was set in Washington at which Mr. LaHood offered to come to the Quad Cities and declare the old twin suspension green I-74 bridge the “worst bridge in America.” Mr. LaHood set the event up, Mr. Ploehn said. He invited governors and set the stage. “Right there was when everything just moved rapidly and we got the funding and we all know the rest of the story,” Mr. Ploehn said. Both before and after the transportation seminar, numerous local leaders lauded Mr. LaHood’s keynote passenger rail call to action and his support for the bridge. They included Denise Bulat, the executive director of the Bi-State Regional Commission and a presenter at the forum. She said her organization “was very honored that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood participated in the QCBJ Transportation Symposium as the keynote speaker, and that the region was able to thank him properly for his crucial assistance which resulted in the construction of the Interstate 74 Bridge Corridor Project.” During his speech and after receiving the award, Mr. LaHood continued to downplay his contribution to the bridge construction and he credited local leaders for the new and already iconic Mississippi River crossing. “This really belongs to all of you,” he said. “It really does.”