It appears the Missouri Department of Transportation will repair and reconstruct the closed Gasconade River Bridge that carries old Route 66 near Hazelgreen, Missouri, instead of a new bridge being built in its place.
A draft of the state’s 2017-2021 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program was released late in the week. It isn’t set in stone, but page 16 of the document (PDF file) suggests the 90-year-old bridge will be at least somewhat preserved.
The job specifically for bridge G-245, which is the Gasconade River Bridge, states:
— It is listed as a “bridge improvement” job, not a bridge construction.
— It is part of the Taking Care of System fund category.
— The section category lists it as a “Rehabilitation and Reconstruction.”
— The estimated cost is $5.44 million — much less than the typical cost of $15 million for building a new, major bridge.
— In a news release from MoDOT, it stated it added more than 800 projects to the five-year program because of improved economic conditions, and 88 percent of those additions “are designed to take care of MoDOT’s existing system.”
The draft indicates the state will begin work on the bridge in 2018.
A MoDOT representative wasn’t available for comment late Friday. Not all the details are known about the project — especially whether the bridge’s distinctive trusses will be kept.
And MoDOT could alter the project, as it is taking public comments about the overall plan until June 10. Final approval of the plan won’t occur until July 7.
Readers should fill out this contact form and encourage the agency to “repair, not replace” the bridge and retain its distinctive and historic design elements.
If this proposal is adopted and it is as good as hoped, the Route 66 community — especially the Gasconade River Bridge — Repair, Don’t Replace and the Route 66 Gasconade River Bridge Guardians groups on Facebook — deserve all the credit. They organized “save the bridge” rallies after the bridge was closed in December 2014, and they got a lot of attention from the media and MoDOT.
According to Bridgehunter.com, the 525-foot bridge was built in 1922 to 1924 of three styles of trusses.
(Hat tip to Waynesville Daily Guide: image of the Gasconade River Bridge via Missouri Preservation)
Thanks for the article. The Guardians are meeting today to discuss this topic. Hat tip to PicsbyJax for the photo 😉
History preserved, money saved. Some things in life are a no brainer but the groups mentioned rightly deserve the lions share of the credit. Great job!!