HANNIBAL – The Missouri Department of Transportation and its contractor, Lehman Construction, LLC, plan to begin work next week, weather permitting, on the U.S. Route 61 northbound bridges between the Warren Barrett Drive and Market Street intersections. “The bridge decks are nearly 60 years old and carry close to 10,000 cars a day,” said MoDOT Area Engineer Brian Untiedt. “There will be traffic impacts throughout construction, and we ask drivers to obey the work zone signs and slow down,” he continued.
The biggest impact will more than likely be for drivers using the Warren Barrett and Red Devil Road intersection. “Drivers coming off of Red Devil Road can only turn right, and there is no access to U.S. 61 for drivers coming out of Warren Barrett,” Untiedt explained. He said drivers can turn right onto both streets off of U.S. 61, but essentially the intersection is closed off throughout the project for driver’s and worker’s safety.
There is also a 10-foot lane width on the bridges, so over-sized vehicles are being rerouted to other state roads.
The project is expected to take up to four months to complete at a cost of $1,551,090. The bridges are over Bear Creek and Norfolk Southern Railroad in Ralls County. Both projects are included in Gov. Mike Parson’s $351 million Focus on Bridges program, which will repair or replace 250 bridges across the state.
A brief video about the project can be found at this link.
Winter road conditions, as well as work zones, can be found online at modot.org under the traveler map. Please drive slowly during winter weather. If your wipers are on, your headlights should be on; it's the law in Missouri. Subscribe to our e-update service and receive road condition emails when winter weather could affect travel, and you can get text alerts on road closures, too! Follow us on Facebook or Twitter @MoDOT_Northeast for road updates. For more information, please contact MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636).