By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
The future of I-229 and the double decker bridge in St. Joseph is starting to come more into focus, but it could be years until actual construction starts.
The Missouri Department of Transportation presented their latest idea to the St. Joseph City Council at a Tuesday work session, and their recommendation is to tear down the double decker bridge and build a two-to-four-lane road in its place that will keep traffic flowing north and south.
MoDOT Northwest District Engineer Marty Liles says they will present their bridge alternative to the Metropolitan Planning Organization on Thursday at noon at Remington Nature Center.
"Step one after that (Thursday) meeting is we want to launch the website," Liles said. "That website (stjoe229.com), really getting it back. I'm going to say relaunch, now that we've redeveloped that. Now, we can inform the traveling public of this study. So, they can go out, reach out and look at what those different options are."
Liles says MoDOT will likely have another meeting with the general public at the Nature Center in August.
Liles says the city council is up to speed on the bridge alternative project, but informing the public is always a priority.
"We still want to get that public meeting input," he said. "There's so much that the website will provide as far as people who want to reach out there, but we also know that there a certain amount of people who just need to come see it and feel it face-to-face. So, we value that."
MoDOT officials hope to have an official decision on the I-229 bridge alternative by spring, though construction may not start for another five years.
The I-229 double decker bridge has been open to traffic in St. Joseph since 1986 and it takes on about 17,000 vehicles a day. MoDOT officials estimate it would cost up to $60 million over the next 20-25 years just to maintain the bridge.
Liles says once the project enters its design phase, more specifics will become clear.
"Once we get to the design phase, we can really start figuring out how all of this is going to fit," Liles said. "What's the grade and where does this bridge fit, how far back do we have to go, how high does it have to be and how long does it have to be. And how much we will have to build up in certain locations to get us out of the floodplain."
MoDOT officials hope to have all of their documentation work on this project finished by the end of this year, and a final bridge alternative design chosen by spring 2023.
Discussions on the future of the I-229 bridge have been going since October 2018 when MoDOT held its first public open house at Remington Nature Center.
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