KC wants bike/ped and other improvements in Broadway Bridge replacement, rather than short-term repairs--but need funding to do so | NewsBry

Headlines are quick hits from media outlets from Missouri and around the world. Follow the headline link for the full story. The source of this headline says:

The city can’t abide so many things it deems unsatisfactory with just closing and repairing the old bridge.

“It does not make bicycle-pedestrian improvements,” Minder said. “It does not improve traffic flow.”

A new bridge project would likely cost $200 million or more and would need to be built next to the current bridge to avoid a long closure. The construction of the Kit Bond Bridge in place of the old Paseo Bridge in 2007 cost $245 million.

Link: 

KC wants bike/ped and other improvements in Broadway Bridge replacement, rather than short-term repairs--but need funding to do so | NewsBry

MoBikeFed comment: This is a dilemma faced in many projects across Missouri. In many cases makes more fiscal sense to replace bridges near the end of their lifetime, and replacement creates the opportunity to create safe bicycle & pedestrian access as well as other improvements.

Replacement costs more in the short term but costs less in the long term.

But MoDOT's budget is currently so constrained that the agency often must choose the less expensive short term cost even though they know the short-term fix will end up costing more in the long term.

More info about MoDOT's current funding situation and some of the choices the agency is forced to make here:

http://www.modot.org/guidetotransportation/