LAWRENCE COUNTY, Mo. – According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, crews are set to close the Missouri Route 96 bridge over Turnback Creek west of Halltown for up to 115 days beginning the week of July 18 to rehabilitate the bridge.
Crews will be working on widening the bridge by three feet to a total of 30 feet to accommodate two 12-foot-wide lanes with three-foot wide shoulders.
Drivers will have access to driveways and entrances on either end of the bridge, but will not be able to drive through the work zone. Detour signs will be placed to instruct drivers to use I-44 and I-49.
According to MODOT, this work is part of a three-year project to improve 25 bridges within 15 miles of I-44 across the Southwest District. Of the 25 bridges in the project, known as the I-44 Corridor Bridge Bundle, seven are mainline I-44 bridges, five are I-44 overpass bridges and the remaining bridges are on adjacent routes over various features. Sixteen bridges will be replaced and nine bridges will receive major rehabilitation work.
All work in 2022 will be in Lawrence County, where crews will replace five bridges and rehabilitate four others.
The bridge was built in 1960 and is in deteriorating condition.
More information about this project can be found on the project website – I-44 Corridor Bridge Bundle.