Construction is scheduled to begin Tuesday on the first phase of safety improvements on Tanner Bridge Road, the Cole County Public Works Department announced Friday.
Don Schnieders Excavating was awarded a contract to make improvements near the Tara Road intersection as well as realign the intersection.
The work is part of a multi-phase project to make safety improvements to Tanner Bridge Road from Route B to the Grand Highland subdivision.
The first part of the work will include tree and brush clearing for the new improvements.
The road will remain open during the early stages of the project but will close for actual road construction at 9 a.m. Oct. 28.
The contractor will have up to 30 days to finish the project and reopen the road. The tentative open date is Nov. 27.
During the road closure, motorists on Tanner Bridge Road will have to use a signed detour on Route B to Friendship Road. Due to the nature of the work being done on Tanner Bridge Road, the road must be closed to through traffic, but local residents affected by the project will still be able to access their property, public works officials said.
The Cole County Commission approved a contract in 2017 with Central Missouri Professional Services to design safety improvements at five locations on Tanner Bridge Road.
The road was built in the 1960s when the county roads and bridges were under the jurisdiction of special road districts, public works officials said. The county was primarily rural at the time, and roads were narrow and curvy with little traffic.
Today more than 2,000 vehicles travel Tanner Bridge Road each day, making it one of the highest traveled two-lane roads in Cole County.
This project will be paid for with funds generated from the county's half-cent sales tax for capital improvements.
Work is expected to take place on the future phases in years to come as funding becomes available.