CALLAWAY COUNTY – Winter weather in January has resulted in schedule changes to the project that is improving three eastbound U.S. Route 54 bridges on the north side of Fulton: the Route 54 bridge over Ozark Valley Railroad, the Route 54 bridge over Richland Creek and the Route 54 bridge over Business Route 54.
The new tentative schedule for traffic impacts is:
Thursday, Jan. 25
- The westbound Route 54 off-ramp to Business Route 54 in Fulton will be closed.
Wednesday, Jan. 31
- Eastbound and westbound Route 54 traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction through the work zone area. Route 54 traffic will be head to head in the westbound lanes and separated by concrete barriers.
- Eastbound Route 54 traffic will be switched to the passing lane of westbound Route 54 via temporary median crossovers, and westbound Route 54 traffic will use the driving lane of westbound Route 54.
- The Business Route 54 on-ramp to eastbound Route 54 in Fulton will also be closed.
The westbound Route 54 off-ramp closure was originally scheduled for Jan. 18 and the crossover impact was scheduled to take place Wednesday.
Westbound Route 54 is currently reduced to one lane in through the work zone. The Route 54 median crossovers at Callaway County Roads 210, 114 and 201 are closed.
All of the traffic impacts listed above will be in place until late May.
Electronic message boards are installed in the area to warn motorists of the work. Drivers should adjust travel times accordingly during peak travel times.
The Richland Creek and the Ozark Valley Railroad bridges will get new decks, while the Business Route 54 ramp bridge will be resurfaced.
The bridge rehabilitations are part of a larger project by the Missouri Department of Transportation to improve nine total bridges on Route 54 between I-70 and New Bloomfield in Callaway County.
Three of the bridges are complete:
- Route 54 westbound over Middle River
- Route 54 westbound over Richland Creek
- Route 54 eastbound over Interstate 70
The other bridges included in the project are:
- Route 54 eastbound over Stinson Creek
- Route 54 westbound over Interstate 70
- Route 54 westbound over Hillers Creek
Guard cable is being installed along Route 54 from Holts Summit to Kingdom City as part of this project. The guard cable work and all of the bridge improvements included in this larger project will be completed by September of this year. The guard cable installation is a result of a 2016 Route 54 road safety audit conducted along Route 54 from Camdenton to Mexico.
While the audit found the existing conditions on the Route 54 corridor to meet all state and federal standards, MoDOT is implementing the additional safety enhancements in an effort to further reduce incidents.
For project information or for information about other transportation matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit our website at www.modot.org/central. You can also follow MoDOT’s Central District on Facebook @MoDOTCentralMissouriDistrict or on Twitter at @MoDOT_Central.