You can expect backups all weekend near Columbia’s St. Charles road bridge over I-70.
Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) crews plan demolition of the bridge starting Friday evening. MoDOT Improve I-70 Columbia to Kingdom City project director Jeff Gander tells reporters that the bridge will close tonight at 7:
“And we will route I-70 traffic up and over the ramps. While we demo this bridge it’s not safe to have the traveling public going underneath it. So we’re going to route I-70 on both sides up and over the ramps while we tear the bridge down,” Mr. Gander says.
This is at mile marker 131 at the Lake of the Woods exit. Mr. Gander expects the bridge, which was built in 1957, to be gone by Monday morning at 6. He says you can expect backups on I-70 up to an hour Saturday and Sunday during the day.
MoDOT Improve I-70 Columbia to Kingdom City project director Gander notes Missouri lawmakers approved $2.8 billion in funding in 2023 to rebuild and expand I-70 to six lanes between Wentzville and Blue Springs:
“This bridge will not handle six lanes of traffic on I-70 underneath it. It’s just not long enough. We could probably get six lanes under there but they would be narrow and you would have almost no shoulder. So by replacing this bridge we have the option to make it longer,” Mr. Gander tells reporters.
He recommends that residents in northeast Columbia use Clark lane or the Route Z interchange this weekend while demolition takes place.