Winter weather alters schedule for improvement project

Missouri Department of Transportation graphic
Missouri Department of Transportation graphic

Winter weather has resulted in schedule changes to the improvement project on three eastbound U.S. 54 bridges on the north side of Fulton: the U.S. 54 bridge over Ozark Valley Railroad, the U.S. 54 bridge over Richland Creek and the U.S. 54 bridge over Business 54.

The new tentative schedule for traffic impacts is:

Thursday: The westbound U.S. 54 off-ramp to Business 54 in Fulton will be closed.

Wednesday, Jan. 31: Eastbound and westbound U.S. 54 traffic will be reduced to one lane in each direction through the work zone area, and U.S. 54 traffic will be head to head in the westbound lanes and separated by concrete barriers. Eastbound U.S. 54 traffic will be switched to the passing lane of westbound U.S. 54 via temporary median crossovers, and westbound U.S. 54 traffic will use the driving lane of westbound U.S. 54. The Business 54 on-ramp to eastbound U.S. 54 in Fulton will be closed.

The westbound U.S. 54 off-ramp closure originally was scheduled for Jan. 18, and the crossover impact was scheduled to take place Wednesday.

Westbound U.S. 54 is currently reduced to one lane through the work zone. The U.S. 54 median crossovers at Callaway County Roads 210, 114 and 201 are closed.

All of the traffic impacts listed will be in place until late May.

The Richland Creek and the Ozark Valley Railroad bridges will get new decks, while the Business 54 ramp bridge will be resurfaced.

The bridge rehabilitations are part of a larger project by the Missouri Department of Transportation to improve nine bridges on U.S. 54 between I-70 and New Bloomfield in Callaway County.

Three of the bridges are complete: U.S. 54 westbound over Middle River, U.S. 54 westbound over Richland Creek and U.S. 54 eastbound over I-70.

The other bridges included in the project are U.S. 54 eastbound over Stinson Creek, U.S. 54 westbound over I-70 and U.S. 54 westbound over Hillers Creek.

Guard cable is being installed along U.S. 54 from Holts Summit to Kingdom City as part of this project. The guard cable work and all of the bridge improvements included in this larger project will be completed by September. The guard cable installation is a result of a 2016 road safety audit conducted along U.S. 54 from Camdenton to Mexico.