KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- A bridge just Northwest of Kirksville is set to get an $80,000 makeover.
Construction on the bridge which is located on Benton Road just outside of Kirksville city limits is set to begin in 3-4 weeks.
The wooden one that is currently there now will be replaced with a new concrete bridge with steel girters.
So just how does the Adair County Commissioners decide which bridges need replaced?
“Well the county decides on an as needed basis,” said civil engineer Leonard Lowry. “The county goes through and programs which bridges they feel are in the most need of updates and replacement so this is just one of the ones they chose and programmed to be replaced.”
Depending on weather, the project should take about 2-3 months until its completed which has many wondering if it will affect traffic.
“There’s not a lot of thru traffic for this, it’s on a dead end road and I think there’s a couple of houses on the end of the road so there will have to be temporary access provided to them to get back there, but as far as thru traffic, it’s not going to affect many people in this location,” Lowry said.
And the project comes with a hefty price tag. It will cost roughly $83,000 so where is the county getting the money to foot the bill?
“It’s part of an 80/20 project. State and federal funding pays 80% of it and the county will match the other 20%,” said Lowry.