COLUMBIA - There's one week to go before work begins on replacing the Interstate 70 bridges at Business Loop 70, Garth Avenue and Rangeline Street.
As part of the project, one northbound and one southbound lane of Rangeline will be closed from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. on Aug. 20 to reconfigure the current traffic lanes under I-70. These lanes will be reduced to 10 feet to allow for the construction of the new bridges over Rangeline. Similar overnight lane closures on Rangeline will occur Aug. 26 and 27.
In addition, one westbound lane of Interstate 70 will be closed for two nights also for barrier placement. The westbound driving lane will be closed from 9 p.m. on Aug. 26 to 5 a.m. on Aug. 27 and again from 9 p.m. on Aug. 27 to 5 a.m. on Aug. 28
"We want to give folks plenty of notice about the start of this project, as well as the upcoming lane closures so they can plan alternate routes around the work," said Travis Koestner, assistant district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation's Central District. "It's really important that Columbia motorists realize they should avoid using the interstate as a city street during this project. The more we can keep local traffic off of I-70, the safer and faster the work will proceed."
Although there will be only a few temporary overnight lane closures of I-70 during construction, traffic is expected to move slower through the construction area.
"People have a tendency to want to look around to see what's going on when they notice highway construction taking place," Koestner said. "We ask motorists to stay alert and focused while driving through the work zone, both for their safety and the safety of our workers."
Other lane closures will occur at Rangeline, Garth Avenue, Creasy Springs, the South I-70 Outer Road and the intersection of West Boulevard and Business Loop 70 throughout the project. Many of these closures will happen at night and will not affect daytime commutes.
While road closures have been designed to keep traffic disruptions to a minimum, there still will be times when drivers will have to detour around the work. Koestner said MoDOT and Sapp will provide ample notice of any lane closures so drivers will be prepared.
The $18 million design-build project, which also includes building new roundabouts on the north and south sides of I-70 at the Business Loop 70/West Boulevard interchange and at Rangeline, has an aggressive construction schedule. To speed up the work, several of the new bridges will be built next to the existing structures and slid into place. The project is scheduled to be complete by Oct. 1, 2016.
An average of 80,000 vehicles a day cross the I-70 bridges at these three locations. The structures date back to 1957 and are in poor condition, but safe for travel.
For more information and to sign up to receive weekly e-mail updates on the project, visit www.modot.org/ColumbiaBridges.
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Media Advisory
COLUMBIA - A news briefing to announce the project kick off and answer questions about the work will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 24 in the parking lot of Joe Machens Toyota, 1180 Vandiver Drive.
Who: MoDOT, Emery Sapp and Sons officials
What: Columbia I-70 Bridges project kick off
When: 10:30 a.m., Monday, Aug. 24
Where: Joe Machens Toyota, 1180 Vandiver Drive, Columbia, Mo.
For more information about the project, visit www.modot.org/ColumbiaBridges.