KINGDOM CITY – The Missouri Department of Transportation wants motorists who drive through Kingdom City on eastbound U.S. Route 54 to be aware that their travel may be impacted beginning Tuesday, Sept. 5, when bridge rehabilitation work begins on the eastbound Route 54 bridge over Interstate 70.
One lane of eastbound Route 54 on the bridge will be closed at all times during the work.
Two lanes of traffic will be open over the bridge. The left lane will be for left turns and through traffic. The right lane will be for through traffic only. Traffic will be able to make a left turn onto westbound I-70.
All ramps to and from I-70 will remain open during the work.
The lane configuration will return to normal when the work on this bridge is scheduled to be completed in November. Some occasional overhead work will also require night lane closures on I-70 from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. to allow contractors to work safely under the bridge.
The rehabilitation work will allow the bridge, originally built in 1990, to provide an additional 20 to 25 years of service. The westbound Route 54 bridge over I-70 is scheduled to be rehabilitated next spring before Memorial Day.
Electronic message boards will be in place along the routes to inform motorists about the work.
The bridge rehabilitation is part of a larger plan by the Missouri Department of Transportation to improve nine total bridges between I-70 and New Bloomfield in Callaway County during the next 12 months.
The other bridges are:
- Route 54 westbound over Middle River
- Route 54 eastbound over Richland Creek
- Route 54 westbound over Richland Creek
- Route 54 eastbound over the KCR Railroad
- Route 54 eastbound over Stinson Creek
- Route 54 eastbound over Business Route 54
- Route 54 eastbound over Interstate 70
- Route 54 westbound over Interstate 70
- Route 54 westbound over Hillers Creek
The bridges over Richland Creek and the KCR Railroad will get new decks. The remaining Route 54 bridges will be rehabilitated. The rehabilitation of the bridge over Middle River is currently in progress and will be completed by mid-September.
Capital Paving and Construction is the contractor on the $7.3 million bridge project.
More information about this project can be found online at www.MoDOT.org/Central/Route54CallawayBridges.htm. For other transportation-related matters, please call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636) or visit www.modot.org/central.