All four Great Falls bridges have formal names

All four major bridges in Great Falls carrying cars and truck traffic have names.

Readers reminded the Tribune of that fact Monday after a Spray of the Falls column said it appeared two of the bridges did not have formal names. It turns out the 15th Street and the 6th Street Southwest bridges do have formal names that honor people.

The 15th Street Bridge over the Missouri River is named for pioneer physician Dr. Harry McGregor, who practiced in Choteau and later Great Falls and who is considered to be the father of the Montana 200 Highway across central Montana, said his grandson, recently retired Dr. William McGregor of Great Falls. A plaque dated 1961 marks the bridge on an ornate concrete post at the bridge’s southeast end along River Drive North.

The 6th Street Soutwest. Bridge over the Sun River is named for longtime U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield, an accomplished political leader who grew up in Great Falls. A plaque dated 1981 marks a fence near the southeast corner of the structure.

Other named bridges in Great Falls are:

• The George Shanley Bridge, named for the late architect; the bridge connects to 1st Avenue North on one end and Central Avenue West on the other

• The Warden Bridge, which lines up with 10th Avenue South and was named for late Tribune publisher O.S. Warden, who also served on the Montana Highway Commission

• The Eagle Falls Memorial Bridge, or the 9th Street Bridge, the newest of the city’s major bridges.

A pedestrian bridge located just north of the 1st Avenue North Bridge is called the Weissman Memorial Bridge.

The largest remaining bridge without a formal name in honor of someone is the historic 10th Street Bridge, which has been undergoing renovations since the 1990s and is scheduled to open for recreational traffic by 2020, the bridge’s centennial year.