Despite freezing temperatures, roadway crews have made considerable progress on portions of the lake area’s major construction projects.
With spring approaching, the Missouri Department of Transportation and major contractors in charge of these projects are gearing up for a summer full of changes as major transformations take hold and change the Lake of the Ozarks landscape.
Crews also have their fingers crossed for clear skies in order to make target opening dates set for spring, summer and fall of this year.
Highway 54 Expressway
What’s Happening
The project will make the most progress in 2010 as portions start to open up to traffic later this year. In anticipation of those dates, roadway crews are making steady headway.
Phase 1 - Grand Glaize Bridge north to Mace Road
The prime contractor, McAnnich Corp. from Des Moines, Iowa, is making steady progress on the overpass bridge near Mace Road. Provided that there are no major setbacks in terms of weather, etc., the company is planning on having the bridge open to traffic by Memorial Day.
Farther down the road, near Route 42 and the Walmart area, asphalt work will pick up again once the winter weather breaks. This area is also anticipated to be open to traffic by Memorial Day.
Work at the Grand Glaize Bridge will occur during the late summer months. Traffic will be redirected onto a single bridge while the connections are being built. This portion is expected to be completed by early fall.
Phase 2 - Mace Road north to Osage River Bridge
Major land transformations are nearing completion leaving the project ready for the second part - paving.
Paving on this portion of the project is expected to start in the late spring with an overall completion date set for mid-fall.
Emery Sapp & Sons, of Columbia, Mo., was awarded the bid as prime contractor for paving. The company will also be responsible for the new bridge for the Horseshoe Bend Road Interchange. Work on that project is anticipated to start in early spring.
The grading project was handled by RSI Development Group with Bloomsdale Excavating, of Bloomsdale, Mo., serving as the prime contractor.
Phase 3 - west of Grand Glaize Bridge to Route KK
This phase is in its earliest stages of construction and has the most to accomplish.
Divided into several smaller projects, only one is actively being worked on. Crews have started grading the project, which is expected to be completed in 2011.
However, the project also includes building two bridges at Case and Jeffries roads. The bridges have a target opening date of early summer. Once open, local traffic will have to be redirected over these bridges so major grading work can continue on the expressway.
The prime contractor on this phase is Kolb Grading, of St. Charles, Mo.
Target Completion Date
Phase 1- Summer 2010
Phase 2- Fall 2010
Phase 3- Spring 2012
About the Project
The 8.5-mile-long expressway will be four-lane divided highway. Once completed, MoDOT will be responsible for maintenance of the expressway.
The current Highway 54 and its connections will be handed over all at once to the city of Osage Beach. When that happens, the highway will be renamed Osage Beach Parkway.
Interchange Locations
• Lake Ozark for the new Horseshoe Bend Parkway
• Between Route 42 and Walmart
• Passover Road
• Jeffries Road
• Broadwater Road
• Double-diamond interchange at Nichols Road and Route KK
• There will also be an at-grade intersection near Lazy Days Road that will be the first access point to the Osage Beach Parkway coming from the west.
Total Estimated Cost
$150 million
Speed Limit
65 mph
Route 5 Shared 4-lane
What’s Happening
Grading work continues on this project in preparation of paving the project south of Camdenton.
The grading is being done by Kolb Grading.
By late spring, work should begin on the second-half of the project - widening the existing road in Laclede County and paving the new road in both counties with concrete.
Target Completion Date
Winter 2010
About the Project
The entire project, from just north of Route 7 near Camdenton to Greenfield Road in Lebanon, is 18 miles long.
The plan provides continuous, alternating passing lanes for motorists.
A shared four-lane highway consists of alternating passing lanes along a conventional two-lane highway to provide motorists with periodic opportunities to pass other vehicles without having to drive in the opposing lane.
The project broke ground in May 2008.
Osage River Bridge, Tuscumbia
What’s Happening
The prime contractor, APAC-Kansas, of Kansas City, Kan., continues work on building the new bridge. The bridge is anticipated to open to traffic by late summer with demolition of the old bridge to be completed by the end of 2010.
Target Completion Date
Winter 2010
About the Project
The Osage River Bridge on Route 17, just outside Tuscumbia in Miller County, was the first bridge in the nation to move forward after President Barack Obama signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
Built in 1932, the current 880-foot deck arch truss bridge received a poor to satisfactory rating during a routine inspection in November 2006. In 2007, the bridge was one of more than a dozen across the state that were inspected after a deadly collapse of a similar structure in Minneapolis, Minn.
The bridge was on the state’s list to be demolished and and rebuilt in 2010 and was awaiting funding when the act was signed.
Sunrise Beach Route 5 Widening
What’s Happening
Work has stopped for the winter to accommodate the cold weather, but contractor Hill Brothers Construction Company, of Falkner, Miss., will pick up the project again when warm temperatures resume.
Grading and driveway work still need to be completed for the portion of the highway that’s going to be widened.
Target Completion Date
Late spring/early summer 2010
About the Project
The village of Sunrise Beach entered into a cost-share agreement with MoDOT for a 1-mile widening project of Route 5 within village limits.
In a cost-share agreement, both parties pay for approximately half the costs of the project, or about $500,000 each in this case.
In the plans, a center turning lane and shoulders will be added to both lanes of traffic.
Contact this Lake Sun reporter at deanna.wheeler@lakesunonline.com
