The Missouri Department of Transportation's plan to demolish two bridges over the U.S. 50-63 Expressway in Jefferson City apparently went better than expected.
Barring some last-minute complication, MoDOT Resident Engineer Terry Imhoff said Saturday night, the four-lane highway should be open later today, "probably between 5 and 7 p.m. - although don't hold us to that exact time."
He added: "I can't imagine anything that would create a snafu in opening sometime Sunday."
And that's after the contractor worked steadily for approximately 24 hours, then took a 12-hour break overnight before resuming the demolition about 7 this morning.
Officials closed a mile-long stretch of the expressway between Madison Street and Clark Avenue at 7 p.m. Friday, so the Jackson and Chestnut street overpasses could be demolished, to make room for widening the highway.
The work is part of a $20.3 million project to build a new interchange between U.S. 50-63 and Lafayette Street.
The project also involves repairing or replacing six bridges, and adding a third lane in each direction between Monroe and Lafayette streets and between Lafayette and Clark Avenue.
The Chestnut Street overpass should be replaced by summer, but the Jackson Street overpass isn't scheduled to be replaced until August 2016.
The complete closing of the highway this weekend is expected to be the biggest complication for motorists during the two-year project, which is to be finished by Fall 2016.
Columbia-based Emory Sapp and Sons has the contract. They had until 6 a.m. Monday to demolish the bridges, along with the supporting concrete on the sides of the highway and get the expressway back open - with a financial penalty for every 15 minutes' delay after 6 a.m.
"They'll beat that for sure," Imhoff said Saturday.
Area law enforcement reported few problems with motorists taking other routes to get around the closed section.
"There was a minor accident Friday night, shortly before the highway was closed," Jefferson City police Sgt. Doug Ruediger said.
There were some longer lines, especially for a Saturday, on East McCarty Street.
However, a lot of motorists appeared to be taking the marked MoDOT detour through Wardsville and Taos.
That detour, using state-owned routes M, B and U.S. 54, covered almost 17.5 miles between the U.S. 50-63 intersection with Missouri Boulevard in Jefferson City and the Routes J-M interchange with the expressway, just north of Taos.
It took 25-35 minutes to drive, as opposed to a 15- to 17-minute, 9.3-mile drive between the same two points using McCarty Street - which carried U.S. 50 until the mid-1960s - instead of the marked detour.
Renee Griffith, of Taos, said Saturday there was a definite increase in traffic because of the detour.
"The truck traffic has increased 80 percent," she said, shortly after noon. "Once in a great while we used to get one through here.
"(Friday) night, there were six of them in a row - and some of them were jake-braking," a process of slowing down a diesel engine that makes extra, loud noises.
Griffith is an owner of Meadow Ridge Trains and Hobbies in Taos, which is open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturdays.
"If we get an increase in business, we will know that because we don't advertise," she said. "If we get an increase in business, it will be because of that detour, and I'll know it by the end of next week."
A sheriff's deputy parked along Route M in Taos also said there was some increase in traffic, but it generally was steady.
Several over-the-road trucks passed by while a reporter was visiting with people in Taos.
A couple of those big trucks found the left turn from Route B to Route M in Wardsville to be a little tight.
Employees at the Bee Line Snack Shop there said they had not seen a noticeable increase in business before noon, but thought it might increase Saturday afternoon because of the higher traffic volumes and the warmer weather.
Griffith said many of the extra visitors, like the trucks, didn't slow down as much as they should have.
While the extra traffic wasn't a "big" problem, she said, "They should abide by the laws of our town and go 30 mph."
Cole County Sheriff Greg White said: "While the construction brings a temporary inconvenience to Taos and Wardsville, among others as well, I am thankful for the resiliency of Cole Countians."
He noted his deputies and Highway Patrol troopers were "working to mitigate the situation as much as reasonably possible. The resulting construction should benefit all."