Katelyn Darling and Megan Shanafelt were here with the Bison Bridge Foundation to share an overview of the project and the current status of the bridge. Katelyn is the project coordinator for the Bison Bridge Foundation and brings with her 15+ years of hospitality and tourism background knowledge into the project. Megan has worked with this project and Living Lands and Waters for the last several years with social media and marketing for both foundations. 

Katelyn Darling and Megan Shanafelt from the Buffalo Bridge Foundation

Chad Pregracke from Living Lands and Water has been working on this concept for the last 10 years.  There are approximately 42,000 cars a day that travel over the Mississippi river on 1-80 so there will be lots of exposure for this project.  The initial plans are to acquire 100 acers on each side of the current I80 bridge and have that area plus the bridge available for grazing for the bison.  The bridge will primarily be a walkway for the bison, not a grazing area.  There will be about 8-10 bison in the area so they will have a safe habitat with plenty of food.  So not the herds of buffalo people may be picturing.  The plan is to have one side of the bridge walled off for the bison and the other side is a pedestrian walkway with walking and bicycle paths (I will get her to send me the slides so we can have their pictures).  They are currently working with students from University of Illinois and Iowa State University. They are still in phase 1 of project development and currently are in an information gathering and information presenting phase.  One of the biggest comments they have heard is that people in this area want a bridge with pedestrian access, with local running and biking clubs supporting this project.  With this bridge and the current I74 bridge you can form a nice loop all around the quad cities.  Go to the I-80 Mississippi River Bridge website to leave a comment and get information on the overall bridge project https://www.i80mississippibridge.com/  

For more information visit the bison bridge foundation website at https://bisonbridge.org/ or visit them on all the social media sites.