Highway 14 Will Be Closed May 31-July 23
The bridge over Fox Creek on Route 14 west of Gentryville is scheduled to close Tuesday, May 31, so the bridge can be replaced, the Missouri Department of Transportation has announced.
The new bridge on Route 14 over Fox Creek is scheduled to open to traffic by July 23.
The bridge project in Douglas County is part of MoDOT’s Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement program that will replace or repair 802 bridges across Missouri by the end of 2013.
Three other bridges in Douglas County are scheduled for replacement this year:
* Route 14/Cowskin Creek, west of Ava — June 14 to July 9.
* Route 76/Beaver Creek, southwest of Ava — July 11 to Aug. 24.
* Route 76/Bryant Creek, east of Ava — Oct. 10 to Dec. 6.
A fifth bridge on Route 76 over Red Bank Creek near Vanzant is currently under construction. That project is scheduled for completion the week of May 23.
A sixth bridge on Douglas County Route B over Bryant Creek near Mount Zion was completed in April.
Preparing for Route 14 Closing
A detour for the Route 14/Fox Creek project will be signed along Douglas County Route C, Route 76 and Route 95.
MoDOT reminds motorists that state highway traffic normally is not detoured onto county-maintained roads. However, local drivers familiar with the area will be able to use nearby county roads for a shorter route around the closed bridge.
MoDOT and contractors have alerted law enforcement, fire and ambulance agencies so they can plan how to respond to emergency calls with the bridge closed. The school district and post office also have been notified so they can adjust bus routes and mail carrier routes if necessary.
The Route 14 bridge over Fox Creek, about two miles west of Gentryville, was built in 1931.
The old bridge will be replaced by a new pre-cast concrete box-beam structure. The new bridge will be 260 feet long and 30 feet wide with two-12 foot wide driving lanes.
The prime contractor on the bridge project is KTU Constructors, a group of bridge design and construction companies. The group is replacing 554 bridges of the 802-bridge total in the Safe & Sound program for $487 million.
As part of the Safe & Sound program, the road is closed where each bridge is being replaced or repaired. Closing the road enables workers to do the bridge project quicker, safer and cheaper.
Information on the Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Program statewide can be found on MoDOT’s web site: www.modot. org.
For information on 29 bridges being replaced in 11 counties in the Springfield region in 2011, check www.modot.org/springfield.
