Construction began this week on Missouri’s first Focus on Bridges project: the Route JJ bridge over Price’s Branch in Montgomery County.
This inaugural project is slated to cost approximately $516,000, with a completion date scheduled for sometime in May 2020. E&C Bridge of Jamestown, Mo., won the contract from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
It is but the first such project in Gov. Mike Parson’s transportation plan. In all, that plan calls for $50 million in general revenue in the fiscal year 2020 state budget set aside for the repair and replacement of around 45 bridges, along with another $50 million for a cost-share program. Contracts have already been awarded for 38 of these bridges and should be completed next year.
“We have made outstanding progress on Missouri’s bridge infrastructure this year, but we still have a long way to go,” Parson said. “With one of the nation’s largest but lowest-funded highway systems, Missouri currently has 909 bridges in poor condition and more than $8 billion in unfunded transportation needs. Transportation drives our economy, and we will continue working to invest in infrastructure and address these critical road and bridge needs.”
Missouri’s efforts at bridge improvement have benefited from a legislature resolution to authorize the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) to bond $301 million. That money will be used to repair or replace 215 bridges. The state also gained an Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant to replace the Missouri River Bridge to be repaid out of general revenue over the next seven years. An additional $20.7 million federal grant was secured for approximately 40 bridges in northern Missouri.