St. Charles Road bridge to open to pedestrians in September

COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)

The St. Charles Road bridge is set to open to traffic at 4 p.m. Friday, but the Missouri Department of Transportation says the bridge will not be open to pedestrians until mid-to-late September.

The bridge will open to cars while construction is still underway on the sidewalks. It has been under construction since mid-April and was first expected to open in late September.

Spencer Robinson, a project director for the Improve I-70 Project from Rocheport to Columbia, said Friday afternoon that crews were waiting on fencing they can install.

As for cyclists, Robinson said there is a shoulder on the bridge where they can ride, and that they can use the sidewalk once it's open.

"There's about a 3-foot shoulder or so on the side that bikes can use to get across, or they're more than welcome to use the sidewalks once those are open as well," Robinson said.

Sidewalks will be installed on both sides of the bridge.

Robinson said other Interstate 70 projects will have improved pedestrian connections.

"We will be upgrading all of those with construction and making wider, safer pedestrian connections across I-70 at all of those locations," Robinson said.

These projects include:

• Connector overpass
• Paris Road overpass
• Providence Road interchange
• Stadium Boulevard
• Midway interchange

Starting the morning of Aug. 24, MoDOT will close Clark Lane at the intersection with Hanover Boulevard for 60 days to build a roundabout and new pavement.

Robinson said that the city of Columbia came to MoDOT with extra grant money to add additional features to the roundabout that were not in the original project.

"Through a grant that they had, to add some additional width to the roadway and sidewalks, some additional sidewalks that we did not have in the original scope of the project," said Robinson.

According to a report from Columbia Public Works, $10,520,310 has been agreed upon for the Clark Lane pedestrian, bicycle, capacity, and safety improvements initiative

"Improvements as part of the I-70 project include initial completion of a 10-foot shared-use path and a bicycle lane on the north side between Hanover and near Golden Bear and a two-lane roundabout with pedestrian accommodations at Hanover," the report states.