Contract awarded for major Highway 34 improvements in Bollinger County

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- A project slated to start next month will bring long-awaited improvements to Highway 34 in Bollinger County.

Locals say the winding highway is one of the area's most dangerous stretches of road. But a contract was awarded Wednesday for work that will improve the road's safety, likely starting in September.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded a $8,388,191 contract to H.R. Quadri Contractors of Van Buren, Mo., for the Highway 34 improvements.

The project includes grading, paving and realigning several curves along the highway from east of Route DD to west of Highway 51 near Marble Hill. The bridge over Gimlet Creek will be replaced with a box culvert, and shoulders will be installed from east of Route DD to west of Route ZZ near Glenallen.

This is the second bid MoDOT has taken on this project. MoDOT rejected the first bid because it believed the bid was not economically feasible. Eric Krapf of MoDOT said early in July that the bid would be a larger project, combining two projects that were originally separate.

MoDOT had rejected the first round of bids because it believed it wouldn't get enough value for what it would have to spend. Krapf said that by combining the two projects into an $8.8 million project, MoDOT expected to get better bids and make the most of taxpayer dollars.

Marble Hill administrative assistant Tammy Whitney said she was delighted to hear that the project will soon get started.

"It will be wonderful to have it completed for the safety factor," Whitney said. "That will be amazing for the school buses and everyone else who travels that road."

Highway 34 has long been an area concern because in the last few years several teenage drivers from the Woodland School District have been killed in accidents on highways 34 and 51. In 2010, Woodland student Cole Benfield was killed in an accident near Glenallen on Highway 34. A year later, the death of Woodland student Lauren Rhodes on Highway 51, as well as memories of accidents on both highways, sparked 15-year-old Brittany Holmes to lead a crusade to get MoDOT's attention about the condition of the highways.

Her concern caught the attention of state Rep. Shelley Keeney, who invited Brittany to Jefferson City. During her two-day visit to Jefferson City Brittany met with area legislators, and with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Missouri Department of Transportation officials about her concern for the safety of the highways.

Several months after a series of public hearings involving Keeney, U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, MoDOT officials, Brittany and a room full of local residents, MoDOT announced its plans to rebuild the portion of Highway 34 that it just approved the bid for.

Construction could begin as early as September, with completion anticipated in summer 2014, weather permitting.

When roadwork begins, travelers should expect lane closures, short bypasses, short-term road closures as culverts are replaced and delays as the relocated portions of the roadway are tied into the existing pavement.

Pertinent address:

Marble Hill, MO