State and local officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony for the Lafayette Street interchange project in Jefferson City on Friday.
The project includes building a new interchange at U.S. 50 and Lafayette Street; adding a lane in each direction on the Whitton Expressway from Monroe Street to Lafayette Street and from Lafayette to Clark Avenue; and rehabilitating, replacing or constructing six bridges along the corridor.
The six bridges include:
• The replacement of the Chestnut Street bridge over 50, the Jackson Street bridge over 50 and the 50 bridge over Lafayette.
• The rehabilitation of the Clark bridge over 50.
• Two new bridges, as part of the ramps on the new interchange at 50 and Lafayette.
Emery Sapp and Sons of Columbia is the contractor on the project.
"We're happy to begin work on this much-needed project that will improve safety and traffic flow on 50 through Jefferson City," said David Silvester, Missouri Department of Transportation Central District engineer. "Unfortunately, this is the last major transportation improvement project scheduled for the Central Missouri region due to the severe decline in funding for state road and bridge projects."
Preparation work for the project is currently under way, including sanitary sewer relocation, storm water improvements and demolition work near Lafayette. Grading operations should begin soon for construction of the Lafayette interchange and the widening of 50.
Aside from occasional nighttime lane drops needed for widening along 50, most of the scheduled work should have small impacts to 50 traffic through the upcoming months.
However, motorists should be prepared for a major traffic disruption in February when bridge demolition work will result in the closure of the Jackson and Chestnut bridges, as well as a weekend shutdown of the Rex Whitton Expressway. On that weekend, the expressway will be closed at 7 p.m. on a Friday and will reopen by 6 a.m. on a Monday.
MoDOT will communicate closure dates and detours in advance.
The Jackson and Chestnut bridges will remain closed until the bridge replacements are complete. The Chestnut bridge is scheduled for completion next summer and the Jackson Street bridge is scheduled for completion in late summer 2016.