COLUMBIA, Mo. – Motorists will soon be driving over the new eastbound Interstate 70 bridge at Garth Avenue as traffic will be shifted to the new bridge Thursday night.
During the shift, one eastbound lane of I-70 near the bridge will be closed from 9 p.m. Thursday until 5 a.m. Friday. The eastbound off-ramp to Providence will also be closed from 9 p.m. Thursday until 5 a.m. Friday during the traffic switch. The Missouri State Highway Patrol will be on site to help with the lane closures and the traffic switch.
Once the traffic is switched, the contractor on the project, Emery Sapp and Sons, will begin tearing down the old westbound I-70 bridge at Garth. That work will require Garth Avenue to be closed from 7 a.m. on Monday, April 11 through 7 a.m. on Saturday, April 16.
The project has also reached a stage where work will be performed in the median of I-70 near Garth and Range Line for the next several weeks.
“We want to alert drivers to the fact that we’ll have folks working in between the eastbound and westbound lanes of I-70 both during the day and at night,” said Travis Koestner, assistant district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Central District. “You don’t see work in the interstate median too often, so we want to warn motorists not to be distracted by this activity.”
Koestner praised local drivers for the courtesy and cooperation they’ve shown throughout the project.
“We can tell local travelers are avoiding the project area when possible, because the traffic count has been lower than usual,” Koestner said. “Still, we need for drivers to stay alert and pay attention when driving through the work zone.”
While a great deal of progress has been made on the project, there is more work ahead that will have a big impact on Columbia traffic, Koestner said. Here’s a look at the upcoming road work:
- Late April/Early May – Creasy Springs at Business Loop 70 will be closed for 15 days.
- Early May - Eastbound I-70 traffic will be shifted to the new I-70 bridge at Range Line, and the old bridge will be demolished.
- Mid-May - The new bridges at Garth and Range Line will be slid into place.
- Early June - Business Loop at I-70 will be closed for 45 days.
The $18 million design-build project, which involves building new I-70 bridges at Garth, Range Line and Business Loop, began last August and will be finished in October. More information about both the project can be found at www.modot.org/ColumbiaBridges.