Final design plans on the enhancements for the Lafayette Street interchange plan in Jefferson City were sent Wednesday to Missouri Department of Transportation officials.
At Wednesday's Cole County Commission meeting, representatives of the architectural firm Arcturis told commissioners that cooperation between the county and Jefferson City officials helped get the plan developed smoothly in six months.
The enhancements will be done on the Jackson Street, Chestnut Street and Lafayette Street bridges. These include pylons, lights, railings and a retaining wall at the rock cut with Jackson Street.
The City is contributing $500,000 to the project, using funds from the capital improvements sales tax funds dedicated to improvements at the old Missouri State Penitentiary. Cole County has approved a $1 million contribution for the enhancements.
The project is supposed to go out to bid next month, with a contract awarded in September and construction starting in December.
The Lafayette interchange itself, which is expected to cost $18 million, will be funded through MoDOT.
The project calls for a new diamond interchange at U.S. 50 and Lafayette Street and adding a lane in each direction from Monroe Street to Lafayette Street and from Lafayette to Clark Avenue.
Construction should be done throughout a two-year period. It will be done in about six phases that intermittently close Chestnut Street, Jackson Street, Lafayette Street and Clark Avenue, as well as permanently close Elm Street.