I was afraid this might happen, and it appears my fears were realized.

The St. Clair County Journal in Illinois reports that the parking lot on the Missouri side of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge was closed by Trailnet a few days ago.

The pedestrian bridge, which once carried Route 66 over the Mississippi River, is the only way to enter the island from Missouri … Earlier, the St. Louis lot had been plagued by numerous car break-ins — by some counts as many as 50 this summer alone — forcing Trailnet to post a guard at the bridge

That guard was removed and the lot, which charged $3 per vehicle, was shuttered Nov. 1 due to cost concerns, said Trailnet spokeswoman Kathi Weilbacher.

While the bridge will remain open — from a half-hour before dawn to a half-hour after sunset — the parking lot will be closed through spring except for some special events, she said.

“We were providing secure parking but we just don’t have the budget to provide that all the time and since we’re going into winter, we’ve made the hard decision to cut hours,” she said.

On a visit Tuesday evening, the asphalt parking lot was empty and chained shut, without a clear entrance to the bridge. A sign tells visitors parking is available in another unlit parking lot at North Riverfront Park, located 1.7 miles south.

There is also no indication that the bridge is still open — it sits about 100 yards away from the locked gate — or that visitors can park on Chouteau Island. However, Trailnet’s Web site does mention the Illinois lots.

So it sounds like Trailnet is leaving open the possibility of opening the Missouri parking lot again in the late spring, when tourism season resumes. But there’s little doubt that vehicle break-ins have been an sporadic but persistent problem for years.

Such break-ins are less of a problem on the Illinois side, and you can park there. You still ought to lock your vehicle doors, however. For those unfamiliar with the area, exit Interstate 270 at the Illinois Highway 3 Exit. Just south of the interchange, the bridge is a few miles east on Chain of Rocks Road. This map should help you find the way.

KOB-TV reports that a couple driving from Grants, N.M., to Albuquerque pulled into the parking lot of the Route 66 Casino because the woman was going into labor.

With the help of a police dispatcher on the other end of the phone line, the father helped his wife deliver the baby right there. Mother and child are now said to be doing well.

For the rest of its life, the child can now brag that it got its first kicks on Route 66.