Crescent City Connection

The Crescent City Connection (CCC), formerly known as the Greater New Orleans (GNO) Bridge, is a pair of cantilever bridges that carry U.S. Highway 90 Business (US 90 Bus.) over the Mississippi River in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. These bridges are very important because they help cars and trucks move across the river in New Orleans.

The two bridges are tied as the fifth-longest cantilever bridges in the whole world. This means they are among the biggest and most impressive bridges of their kind. They have been a key part of the city's transportation system for many years.

Description

The Crescent City Connection is the farthest bridge down the Mississippi River. It is the widest and busiest bridge on the lower part of the river. Other big bridges nearby are in the St. Louis area, like the Poplar Street Bridge, the Jefferson Barracks Bridge, and the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge.

Each part of the bridge has four lanes for cars. The westbound part also has two special lanes that can change direction depending on traffic. In 2006, it was one of the busiest toll bridges in the United States, with over 63 million cars passing over it each year.

History

Original span

The Crescent City Connection is the second bridge to cross the Mississippi River south of Baton Rouge. The first bridge nearby is the Huey P. Long Bridge. Building started in 1954, and the first part of the bridge opened in 1958 as the Greater New Orleans Bridge. It was once the longest cantilever bridge in the world.

When it first opened, cars paid a toll to cross. The toll started at 35 cents and later dropped to 30 cents. A governor promised to remove the toll, and it was taken away in 1964.

Construction of second span

Work on a second bridge began in 1981 but didn’t open until 1988. After it opened, the old bridge was closed so its surface could be repaired. In 1989, after a contest, the bridges were renamed the Crescent City Connection. Many people still call them the “CCC.”

Subsequent events

In 1989, the Crescent City Connection became the first in the U.S. to use electronic toll tags. Tolls ended in 2013 after a vote by people in the area.

Hurricane Katrina

When Hurricane Katrina approached in 2005, tolls stopped to help people leave the city quickly. After the storm, the bridge was one of the few ways out of the flooded area. Tolls started again later that year.

Later history

In 2013, voters decided to end tolls on the bridge forever. Now the bridge is watched over by state police to help manage the busy traffic.

In popular culture

The Crescent City Connection bridges are a famous part of New Orleans' skyline and have been used in many movies and TV shows. Movie crews like to film there because the special traffic lanes are not very busy and are separated from regular traffic by walls. The bridges were closed for a day in 2006 so filmmakers could do stunts for the movie Déjà Vu starring Denzel Washington. They were also used in scenes from 21 Jump Street and A Love Song for Bobby Long, as well as episodes of NCIS: New Orleans. The bridges even appeared in the final episode of The Amazing Race 32, where contestants had to complete a task on them. The bridge is also shown on the cover of rapper Mystikal’s 1995 album Mind of Mystikal.

Every year, the bridges host the Crescent Connection Road Race, also called the Bridge Race. This race takes place on the first Saturday after Labor Day in September. Runners use the special traffic lanes while cars can still drive on the rest of the bridge. The race started to help pay for the bridge’s beautiful decorative lights. These lights line the top of both bridges, with 64 lights on each bridge, making 256 lights in total.