Jefferson City Missouri River Bridge bike/ped addition--contract awarded!

Good news from MoDOT about the proposed bike/ped path to be added to the easternmost MoDOT river bridge crossing the Missouri River at Jefferson City.  

Awarding the contract means that this project is now moving

Proposed bike/ped path over the Missouri River at Jefferson City

The path will be eight feet wide across the bridge and on the approaches, with a couple of wider viewing areas as shown in the illustration at the right.  

The south approach will be along the Main St onramp and the south landing will include a downramp and connection to Jefferson City's river/fishing access area.  

See specific design details here (PDF) and more details about the design and plans are here.

MoDOT's press release:

Project Awarded for Missouri River Bridge Pedestrian Attachment
 
 JEFFERSON CITY - Pedestrians and bicyclists will soon have a safer way to cross the Missouri River at Jefferson City.  Today, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded a project to construct an attachment to the U.S. 54 eastbound/U.S. 63 northbound Missouri River Bridge.

"We are very excited about the opportunity to provide a safer and more convenient way for people to walk and bike across the Missouri River from the Katy Trail to downtown Jefferson City," said MoDOT Transportation Project Manager Jason Vanderfeltz.

The new bridge attachment will be eight feet wide and include two look out points with a view of the Missouri State Capitol.  A ramp structure will be constructed on the north side of the river to allow access to the Katy Trail via the Missouri Department of Conservation public fishing access area.  Access on the south side will be at West Main Street.

OCCI, Inc. of Fulton, Mo. was awarded the project after submitting a bid of $6,772,047.20.  The Missouri Department of Transportation, City of Jefferson, Department of Natural Resources, and the Missouri State Parks Foundation are partnering to construct the project.

The work will start in mid-May and take approximately a year to complete.  The work will require closing the Main Street on ramp during construction.  While some lane closures may be necessary at times, MoDOT hopes to maintain three narrowed lanes of traffic across the bridge during much of the project.

 "It is very important that motorists drive with care through the work area," said Vanderfeltz.  "We encourage everyone to slow down, following work zone signing, and remain patient and courteous while construction is underway."

Once work is completed, the bridge will continue to accommodate three 12-foot lanes of automobile traffic.  Pedestrians and bicyclists will cross the river using the new attachment.  To view an artist rendering of the new attachment, go to www.modot.org/central.

A groundbreaking for the new bridge attachment is being planned for later this spring.

For more information about this project or other transportation-related matters, please log onto to www.modot.org/central or call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636).

MoBikeFed has had representatives on the citizen's advisory committee for this project--it should turn out to be a good, well designed project.  MoDOT has made many small adjustments and improvements to the project as it has gone through preliminary and final design over the past couple of years.

Ultimately plans call for a continuous trail connection from the Katy Trail north of the Missouri River to Jefferson City's Greenway system, which is currently 12.5 miles in length.

Connect MidMIssouri has coverage of the bridge addition here.

Connecting many more Missouri communities to the Katy Trail and the statewide network of trails connected to the Katy Trail is one of the goals of MoBikeFed's Vision of Bicycling & Walking. We are seeing major strides in that direction, with connections to Hermann and Holts Summit now online and Jefferson City and Kansas City underway.