By MATT PIKE
St. Joseph Post
St. Joseph city officials want the discussion about the future of I-229 and the double decker bridge in downtown St. Joseph to keep the city priorities in mind.
City officials were presented MoDOT’s latest idea for the road earlier this week.
City Manager Brian Carter says the city’s main priority for 229 is to keep an efficient highway that travels from the north end to the south end.
"That's probably been one of the biggest, if not the biggest," Carter tells KFEQ Hotline host Barry Birr. "Among other ones though are downtown access, access to the riverfront, you know everything that we rely on I-229 for now, kind of making sure that we still have that all though possibly in a different form."
Carter feels like the plan MoDOT presented to the city council fits the council’s priorities well.
"I think the plan that was presented a couple days ago probably best puts all those priorities in a line and presents them forward," Carter says. "It does not include the double decker bridge."
The plan proposes tearing down the double decker bridge, which MoDOT officials say would cost $60 million over the next 20 years to maintain. MoDOT’s proposal would replace the bridge with a four-lane parallel highway that would keep traffic flowing north and south. MoDOT hopes to have a final design in place by spring of next year.
Carter says following the presentation maintaining the interstate designation was no longer a priority for city council members
"Of course, an interstate is a good thing, but it also comes with some challenges," Carter explains. "Being an interstate, it has to meet more strict standards under federal rules and federal guidelines than it would as just a regular US highway, in the way that US 36 is a US highway."
The latest recommendation also calls for 229 to no longer be designated an interstate.