New Missouri River Bridge to Open June 25

LEXINGTON, Mo. -- Six weeks after celebrating the dedication of the new Route 13 Missouri River bridge at Lexington, Lafayette and Ray County residents will drive across the four-lane structure for the first time.

A 10 a.m. ribbon-cutting ceremony on Saturday, June 25, will mark the opening of the new bridge. Citizens from Ray and Lafayette Counties will gather for an informal ribbon cutting and drive across the new structure before proceeding to the old Route 13 bridge. Once the procession crosses the 80-year-old structure, it will be closed permanently.

Staging areas on both sides of the bridge will open at 9:30 a.m. on June 25. Ray County residents should enter the staging area from Route J, and Lafayette County residents should approach the bridge from the Route 224 interchange.

Both processions will move to the center of the bridge at 9:50 a.m., where the ribbon will be cut at 10 a.m. The Ray County procession will continue south to Route 224 and proceed to the old bridge. The Lafayette County procession will continue north to Route J and then take Route 13 to the old bridge. MoDOT forces will close the old bridge after the final car from each procession crosses the river.

The new $50 million structure will officially become the Congressman Ike Skelton Bridge in late August, pending the governor’s approval of a bill naming the structure for Skelton.

“We knew motorists were anxious for the new bridge to open,” said Mary Miller, MoDOT transportation project manager. “We’ve been working on this project for about nine years – we couldn’t be more excited to see the new bridge open to traffic.”

The new bridge, which is located two miles east of the old structure, is three-quarters-of-a-mile long and is 78 feet wide. It features two 12-foot lanes in each direction, two 10-foot outside shoulders and two 4-foot inside shoulders.