 Originally called the Penrose Avenue Bridge, it was renamed in 1979 to honor Civil War hero George Crawford Platt (1842–1912).Today, the Platt Bridge is a key arterial route which carries an average of 56,000 vehicles daily.According to a WFIL-AM editorial broadcast on December 8, 1967 the bridge had over 30 head on collisions between 1964 and 1967 due to the lack of a "medial barrier."