Mill Avenue Bridge

Mill Ave @ Rio Salado
Tempe, AZ 85281

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The Mill Avenue Bridge has been a key part of Tempe’s story for nearly a century. Completed in 1931, it remains the second oldest automobile crossing over the Salt River in the Phoenix metro area and has been in continuous use ever since.

At the time, it played a major role in connecting the country, serving as a link for three transcontinental highways—U.S. Routes 60, 70 and 80—as well as Arizona’s primary north-south route, U.S. Route 89. Before the freeway system took shape in the 1950s, this bridge carried the bulk of regional and cross-country traffic through the area.

The need for a new crossing became clear as early as the late 1920s. An older bridge at Ash Avenue, built about twenty years prior, was struggling to keep up with growing traffic and the demands of wider, heavier vehicles. In 1928, a group of Tempe businessmen pushed for a solution, submitting a request to the Arizona Highway Commission to plan a new bridge.

Design work began in 1929 under the Arizona Highway Department, with state bridge engineer Ralph Hoffman overseeing the project. Construction was carried out by the Lynch-Cannon Construction Company of Los Angeles as part of Federal Project 2-B.

The bridge opened to traffic in August 1931, quickly becoming a vital corridor for the region. Its official dedication followed in 1933, led by Arizona Governor B. B. Moeur, who also happened to be a Tempe physician.