By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
It’s a bit easier to travel between northwest Missouri and southeast Nebraska; at least, once again there is a more direct route between Big Lake and Rulo.
The Missouri Department of Transportation reports restoration of the Little Tarkio Creek Bridge at Fortescue on U.S. Route 159 has been completed. Floodwaters last year destroyed the bridge, so much so that guard rails hung suspended in air with no pavement underneath. The damage forced MoDOT to devise a work-around to get traffic flowing again between Big Lake on the Missouri side and Rulo on the Nebraska side once floodwaters receded.
MoDOT awarded a $2.5 million contract to Emery Sapp & Sons in July of last year to restore the bridge on Highway 159 between Route 111 (Lake Shore Drive) and Route P. Weather and repeat flooding delayed work on the project, which finally began in September.
Detour signs remain up on Highway 159 as another bridge project gets ready to begin. MoDOT says Boone Construction Company will begin replacing the flood-damage Penny Slu Bridge just west of Route 111 on Monday, June 1st. MoDOT hopes that work will be completed by mid-August.