MoDOT schedules two summertime public meetings

Additional information has been added to this article.

The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold a public meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, July 13, to discuss plans to replace two bridges in Cape Girardeau County located on Route Z over Hubble Creek and Hubble Creek Overflow near Gordonville.

The meeting will be held at Gordonville Elementary School, 653 Route Z.

MoDOT said construction could begin as early as spring 2025, with completion anticipated by fall 2026.

"Both bridges were built in 1936 and have simply reached the end of their service life and are being replaced through our normal inspection and asset management process," said MoDOT Area Engineer Chris Crocker in an email to the Southeast Missourian.

"Our consultant Bacon-Farmer Workman (BFW) determined through hydraulic analysis that the west bridge could be reconstructed as a culvert instead of a bridge," he added.

Once work gets underway, the roadway will be closed in the vicinity of the bridges.

Unfunded needs

MoDOT is also inviting the public to a meeting from 4 to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 15, to discuss the transportation agency's "unfunded needs" list at Bootheel Regional Planning & Economic Development Commission, 105 E. North Main St. in Dexter.

"The Unfunded Needs List is presented by MoDOT as known regional system needs without an identified funding source," said Alex McElroy, executive director of Cape Girardeau-based Southeast Metropolitan Planning Agency.

"The list assists MoDOT in communicating needs within their system which extend beyond the resources identified within the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program," he added.

MoDOT has grouped the unfunded needs list into three tiers of priority once money is identified to proceed, added McElroy.

• Tier One: Projects are ones far enough along with enough known information they could be advanced and ready for some preliminary scoping or engineering.

Two Tier One projects have been identified.

One is along East Jackson Boulevard (U.S. 61) at Shawnee Boulevard for safety improvements. According to a MoDOT information spreadsheet, the current intersection "makes right turn movements difficult due to pavement width restrictions and the steep grade."

The second Tier One program is adding "shoulders" along Highway 25 between Highway 34/72 and Route K, also for safety reasons. MoDOT officials say they propose reducing shoulder width from 10 feet to 6 feet to reduce project costs by $4 million.

• Tier Two projects are those five to 10 years out with little to no current advanced project development.

Identified as Tier Two is a complete redesign of the Interstate 55 Exit 93 interchange.

Previously a Tier One project, I-55/Exit 93 was downgraded since MoDOT has determined the bridge at the location could be rehabilitated rather than replaced.

• Tier Three projects are classified as those more than 10 years out.

Noted as Tier Three with a desire to increase roadway capacity are adding lanes in each direction on three sections of I-55: from Exits 93 to 96; from Exits 96 to 99; and from Exits 102 to 105. This work, the transportation agency said, would be phased.