Jefferson City considers donating property for Highway 54 improvements

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)

Jefferson City's Public Works committee met Thursday to discuss proposed improvements to Highway 54.

The meeting was scheduled for 7:30 a.m. at City Hall in Jefferson City.

MoDOT is considering expanding the highway North of the Missouri River Bridge to help with traffic in the area.

MoDOT has discussed changes for months and Jefferson City has decided which of the department's changes would be best.

Jefferson City Engineer David Bange suggested in his memorandum to the public works committee that MoDOT's third option would be best, as the city is willing to donate the needed property for the project.

However, despite further discussion in Thursday's meeting, the city decided to wait until they hear from MoDOT again to determine what option would be best. The committee said they would make attempts to get more information from MoDOT before the next meeting.

Option three looks to relocate the ramp from Route W onto Westbound Route 54 to the Northwest of the interchange as a loop ramp according to MoDOT documents. MoDOT also says the third option would help improve traffic flow and is more consistent with typical interchange configurations.

Meanwhile, Bange also points out in his memorandum the main difference between option three and option two is that two would use 4th Street as part of the new ramp.

In addition, option two also has a more significant impact on pedestrians using the nearby ball fields as they may need to cross over the 4th street entrance ramp. Bange said in Thursday's meeting that deciding whether or not to use 4th street would be the question to answer.

MoDOT anticipates beginning work on the project in 2024, If option three is approved the project is estimated to cost nearly $5 million.