OLD BRIDGE NEAR REYNOLDSVILLE, ILL., TO BE REPLACED

REYNOLDSVILLE, Ill. -- Work will begin next month on a bridge to replace an old one-lane wooden-floor span over Clear Creek two miles east of Reynoldsville.

The bridge is on a rural Union County road referred to locally as the Old Cape Road. It runs between Route 3 at Reynoldsville and Route 127 south of Jonesboro.

Meanwhile, the Illinois Department of Transportation said bids will be opened in August on a flood-repair project on Routes 3 and 146 in the East Cape Girardeau-McClure area.

The new Clear Creek bridge will be 200 feet long and include two 51-foot spans and a 103-foot span. It will be built of concrete with a concrete deck and steel-beam piers.

Al Thomas of the department of transportation regional office in Carbondale, said bids for the Clear Creek bridge were opened July 1 in Springfield. The low bid of $793,028 was submitted by Perry County Construction Co. of Herrin.

"We expect to award the contract before the end of the month," said Thomas. "A notice to proceed will be issued after a conference with the contractor. Work should begin late this month or in early August. The contractor has 105 working days to complete the bridge."

Union County Superintendent of Highways Bill Boyd said the old bridge will remain open while the new one is under construction; however, the road may be closed or be limited to one-way traffic at times.

Boyd said the bridge will be built about 50 feet south of the old one to remove a sharp curve in the approach.

"We don't want to close the road, if at all possible, because it means a 15-mile detour for folks who live along Old Cape Road between Reynoldsville and Route 127," Boyd said.

The old bridge is believed to have been built around the 1920s or 1930s.

After the new bridge is open, the old bridge will be lifted off its piers and set on the ground where it will be dismantled.

State highway department survey crews are setting survey stakes along Route 146 between the Mississippi River bridge and the East Cape Girardeau junction for the flood-repair project that will include raising Routes 146 and 3 from McClure to the levee north of Gale and the East Cape Girardeau junction. Bids on the project will be opened Aug. 26, in Springfield. Work will begin as soon as possible.

When work begins, Thomas said motorists traveling between Cape Girardeau and McClure and Gale on Routes 146 and 3 can expect frequent and lengthy traffic delays caused by one-way traffic where construction is going on.