Red, white and blue lights were added to the 15 lamp posts lining the bridge. They came on for the first time Monday night.

Mike Larson, a Navy veteran who is leading the effort to make the span a true salute to veterans, said the public response to the new lights has been “extremely positive.”

“It was very positive,” he said. “It was awesome.”

The bridge that carries First Avenue South over the Union Pacific Railroad tracks has always been called Veterans Bridge. In 2023, after a major overhaul of the bridge was completed, an effort was made to truly emphasize the structure as a monument to veterans.

In November 2023, it was renamed the Albert Habhab Veterans Memorial Bridge, after a World War II Army veteran who was the mayor of Fort Dodge, a district court judge, appeals court judge and finally chief judge of the Iowa Court of Appeals. Habhab was mayor when the bridge was built. He died in January 2024 at age 98.

On Veterans Day 2024, the bridge was formally dedicated.

Illuminated steel banners in the form of folded American flags and the emblems of the various branches of the U.S. armed forces are mounted on the lamp posts. The bridge project was the first one outside of the military to receive permission to use the emblem of the relatively new Space Force.

Additional lighting was always part of the plan for the bridge. Placing that lighting on the railings of the bridge was the initial concept. But because of concern that lights on the railings would be vulnerable to damage from snow removal and vandalism, it was decided to place them on the lamp posts.

The additional lights aren’t the only new things people will see on and around the bridge this year, according to Larson. Additional lettering will be placed on the concrete monuments on both sides of the bridge.

Construction of a plaza area on the southeast end of the bridge will start this year with the goal of being completed by Veterans Day on Nov. 11, Larson said. It will feature flags and plaques.

The entire project is being paid for with donations, not tax dollars. The cost has been estimated at $1.5 million.