WARRENSBURG, Mo. - The Route OO Bridge over Honey Creek in Johnson County re-opens Thursday, May 7 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the site. The bridge is the first in the Kansas City District to be completed, and among 18 in Johnson County and more than 800 throughout Missouri to be repaired or replaced in the next five years through MoDOT's Safe & Sound bridge program. Closing these bridges lets the contractor complete the work quickly and get the bridges back open faster. It also keeps costs down, saving taxpayer money.

Full closures reduce cost by minimizing the need for additional right of way and for costly roadway work. Every bridge that's closed during construction allows MoDOT to work on another bridge in need of attention.

There are 10,249 bridges in the Missouri state highway system - 7th largest total nationwide. Approximately 1,100 of them are in poor/serious condition. The Safe & Sound Initiative will address most of these ailing bridges.

WHAT:                Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony - Route OO Bridge over Honey Creek

WHEN:                10 a.m. Thursday, May 7, 2009