HANNIBAL,MO -- According to the Missouri Department of Transportation it has been a little over a week since the new US 63 opened to traffic and North Baltimore Street closed in Kirksville to complete the connection of Baltimore St. to the new Business 63 interchange. "We have poured the pavement while the weather was good, and we are on schedule to reopen Baltimore Street in about a week if the weather holds," said MoDOT Resident Engineer Jeff Gander. The Business 63 interchange will also become fully operational at this time. "Once the interchange opens, traffic on Route P should be reduced considerably," Gander said. Motorists will be able to access the north end of Kirksville through the interchange.
"We are working concurrently to build the permanent connection of the new Highway 63 to the existing highway," Gander explained. "The connection at the north end was originally planned to take four weeks, but by working through last weekend and taking advantage of the good weather, the contractor has been able to reduce the anticipated closure to slightly more than two weeks," he said.
Once these segments are open to traffic, the contractor will begin constructing the connection to the new West Outer Road, the final paving on the project. Motorists looking to access Heetco will need to continue using the temporary entrance located near the north connection of Highway 63.
As these new sections open, traffic patterns along the new Highway 63 and Baltimore St. will continue to change. MoDOT traffic engineers will continue monitoring the traffic patterns along Baltimore St., and adjust the signal timing in order to improve traffic flow in the area.
For more information about this project, call MoDOT customer service at 1-888-275-6636.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKTVO