COLUMBIA, Mo. – The project to replace the Interstate 70 bridges at Range Line Street, Business Loop 70 and Garth Avenue is nearing the halfway mark.
“We’re pleased with the progress we’ve made so far,” said Travis Koestner, assistant district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Central District. “We owe a big thanks to Columbia motorists who have helped out by avoiding this stretch of I-70 when possible, as well as to the contractor, Emery Sapp and Sons, who has been working diligently to get this project completed on time.”
Here’s a general look at work still to come:
- March 28 - Eastbound Business Loop between the entrance to the Comfort Suites and the existing roundabout will close at 7 a.m. on Monday, March 28. The westbound lane from the roundabout to the west will remain open. Traffic traveling east between Stadium Boulevard to the roundabout will need to go west to Stadium and then use I-70 or city streets to travel east. This closure will last several weeks.
- March 28 and 29 – Both southbound lanes of Range Line from the eastbound I-70 off-ramp to the westbound I-70 on-ramp will be closed from 6:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. on Monday, March 28 and Tuesday, March 29 to set girders on the new eastbound bridge over Range Line. Traffic will be routed to westbound I-70 to Providence.
- March 30 – All lanes of Range Line will be open, with only periodic lane closures moving forward. The access from eastbound I-70 to northbound Range Line will re-open. However, there will no longer be a dedicated left turn from southbound Range Line to eastbound I-70 due to the placement of the new bridge supports. Instead, the inside lane will be a shared straight and left-turn lane.
- Early April – Eastbound I-70 traffic will be shifted to the new I-70 bridge at Garth.
- Early May - Eastbound I-70 traffic will be shifted to the new I-70 bridge at Range Line.
- Mid-May – The new bridges at Garth and Range Line will be slid into place, and the old bridges will be demolished.
- Early June – Business Loop at I-70 will be closed for 45 days.
The $18 million design-build project, which began last August and will be finished in October, includes building new, multilane roundabouts at the Business Loop 70 interchange and at Range Line. Roundabouts, which move traffic flow in one direction around a central circular island to increase safety and improve traffic flow, reduce crashes by as much as 75 percent.
In addition to building the new bridge and roundabouts at Business Loop, the work there will improve access to I-70 Drive SW and decrease traffic delays on Creasy Springs.
More information about both the project and roundabouts can be found at www.modot.org/ColumbiaBridges.