Columbia City Council approves Old Plank Road culvert project

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The Columbia City Council on Monday night unanimously approved plans to for a culvert replacement project Old Plank Road.

The design and construction will cost $620,000, with the city funding $337,000 of the amount, according to estimates in meeting documents. The memo indicates $282,763.10 will be provided by the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Regional Bridge Program. The city’s portion of the bill will come from the quarter-cent Capital Improvement Program sales tax.

The project is located near Plank Way and Forum Boulevard. Previous reporting indicates the city has $757,490.18 budgeted and $26,643.57 has been spent so far.

In December 2020, a structural inspection determined that approximately 90% of the metal at the bottom of the structure has rusted through, resulting in the loss of essential bedding material beneath the pipes, the meeting agenda says.

A 24-foot-by-6-foot precast arch structure was picked as the replacement design, meeting documents show.

A public comment asked the city to “examine improving visibility” to the west of culvert and had asked the city to add a turn lane.