MoDOT to replace bridge over Route 50 at Taos exit

A Cole County bridge will soon be replaced.

Next year, the Missouri Department of Transportation will demolish and rebuild the Route J/M Bridge over Highway 50.

It is the bridge at the Taos exit just east of Jefferson City.

“The condition of the bridge is very poor, especially the deck. Anybody that’s driven across it will see that,” MoDOT Transportation Project Manager Bruce Green said.

The project will cost nearly $1.2 million.

Crews are set to start work around the end of May and expect to be completed in August.

The on and off ramps will stay open throughout most of the project, so Highway 50 drivers will still easily be able to get to Taos from the west.

But those trying to go from Taos to Jeffersron City will need to take a mile and a half detour.

Drivers traveling from Route J to Route M will face a four mile detour.

“It’s a small price to pay I guess for a new bridge,” Green said. “You know, it will be an inconvenience, but hopefully we’ll get it done as quick as possible.”

The work will overlap some with the Highway 50 and Shamrock/Liberty Road interchange project next summer.

MoDOT said it will work to stage the construction so the two projects do not conflict.