MoDOT asking for community input ahead of 2025 Jefferson City bridge bundle project

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

With many bridge projects on the horizon in Jefferson City, the Missouri Department of Transportation is hoping to get input about how to keep traffic flowing smoothly.

MoDOT is slated to do construction work on 12 bridges in 2025 along highways 50 and 54. Eleven bridges will receive rehabilitation work, including deck repairs and pavement overlays, while another bridge is being removed.

The eleven bridges slated for rehab include:

• Bolivar Street over Highway 50
• Highway 54 over Business 50 eastbound and westbound
• Highway 54 over Linden Drive eastbound and westbound
• Highway 54 over Stadium Boulevard eastbound and westbound
• Madison Street over Highway 54
• Highway 54 over Moreau River Drainage westbound
• Highway 50 over Vetter Lane eastbound and westbound

The majority of these projects will allow the bridges to remain open during construction while reducing traffic to one lane. The exceptions are the Bolivar Street and Madison Street projects, which will close the bridges completely for an allotted time period.

MoDOT Transportation Project Manager Mia Peters said the whole project is estimated to cost $5.8 million.

"The bridges were built all around the same time around the 1960s, so in order to extend the life of the bridges, we need to do these repairs and put a good, thin overlay over the top to preserve them," Peters said.

The closed bridge over Highway 50 at the Highway 54 interchange will be removed, with some ramps in the area being closed for about 36 hours with a detour. Peters said this bridge has already been closed for about 30 years.

"They closed it and left it in place because it didn't need repairs. Well, now, the bridge is kind of deteriorating and rather than spend state taxpayer money to do the repairs, we want to just go ahead and take it out because it's not being used," Peters said.

Peters said Highway 54 sees about 14,000 drivers each day, while Highway 50 sees about 15,000 each day.

With traffic impacts expected, MoDOT wants to hear from people about concerns they might have with the project, if there are any events the department should be aware of during the construction period and how they can keep traffic flowing smoothly when construction begins.

"There will be quite a bit of traffic affected, but this work does need to be done, so we're trying to come up with the best scenarios we can for traffic control," Peters said.

One Jefferson City resident, Nicholas O'Neal, said the biggest problem he sees during construction work is drivers not slowing down, which is why he thinks more road signs could be helpful during such a large project.

"Probably visibility with road signs and making sure people know that there are construction areas," O'Neal said. "The biggest problem I see is people don't slow down during construction zones, they just treat it as something in their way and they try to drive normally and that doesn't make it safer for them or for the construction workers."

O'Neal said while traffic impacts are expected, he knows construction will be good in the long run.

Tuesday marks the first day of a two-week comment period on the bridge bundle project that will end on June 18. A public meeting was held from 4:30-6 p.m. at the MoDOT Central District office.

MoDOT is currently still in the planning and design phase of the project, with the work slated to go out for contractor bids at the end of this year. Construction will start in 2025.

This work is separate from work on Highway 54 over Highway 50 that is happening this month.