Howard County and surrounding areas have been heavily impacted in recent years by bridge and road repairs by the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT). Two construction areas recently re-opened to traffic.

The first was the bridge over the Bonne Femme Creek as State Route P enters New Franklin. The bridge re-opened on Friday, August 9.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded the $481,924.00 contract to Gene Haile Excavating, Inc. at their February 2024 meeting, and a notice to proceed on March 4, 2024, was also given. That portion of the roadway was closed on May 28.

The bridge deck was built in 1961. MoDOT said the supporting structures of the bridge were in good condition but deemed the deck to be in poor condition and in need of replacement. The new bridge deck is two feet wider at 24 feet, and a new guardrail was installed. The bridge carries approximately 650 vehicles per day.

Most recently, MoDOT re-opened Mo. Highway 3 in Randolph County after completing a roadway realignment project. 

A section of the road was closed on March 15, 2021, when engineers determined it could slide away due to the oversaturated ground near a rock quarry approximately two miles south of U.S. Route 24 between County Road 2130 and Sweet Spring Creek in Randolph County.

Route 3 is a major artery between Howard County and the Randolph County towns of Huntsville and Moberly. Since the closure, motorists have had to travel along various rural blacktops not designed for heavy traffic.

In 2021, MoDOT closed the road indefinitely when a significant slide caused unstable soil conditions in the area. HNTB Corporation, an infrastructure solutions firm, conducted the necessary environmental evaluation to determine a viable design solution. This included a review of soil conditions, slopes of the quarry pits on either side of Route 3, and the excavated caves below this area. 

“Locating suitable soil for the repair required realigning the roadway, shifting it to the west 15 to 30 feet, and lowering it 10 to 15 feet,” explained Missouri Department of Transportation Area Engineer Emily Edgar.

Contractors from Emery Sapp & Sons were awarded the contract last year for $2,670,937.

A bridge in Glasgow over Bear Creek will be replaced entirely sometime next year at a cost of around $4 million. The project is still in the planning stage and is scheduled to be part of MoDOT’s September 2024 letting, when contractors may submit competitive bids. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission may award the contract during its October 2024 meeting. A notice to proceed date will also be given if the contract is awarded.

The roadway is expected to remain open during construction, though some lane closures with narrowed lanes may be necessary. 

Still ongoing is a $220 million replacement of the Interstate 70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport, which connects Boone and Cooper counties. The westbound span of the bridge opened in June 2023. Crews are now working on the eastbound bridge.

The bridge replacement is expected to be finished sometime this year. Once completed, the bridge will have three lanes in either direction, which aligns with the recently begun project to widen I-70 to six lanes across the state.

Other area bridge repairs included two on U.S. 40 between Rocheport and New Franklin and the Highway 240 bridge entering Rocheport. 

MoDOT also made emergency repairs to the bridge over Salt Creek on Highway 240, a few miles south of Fayette. MoDOT inspectors closed the 90-year-old bridge on October 27, 2022, after finding deterioration in the structure. It re-opened to relieved and grateful commuters on Monday, November 22, 2022.