MoDOT, local government plan $45M in roadway projects

The Missouri Department of Transportation, the city of Springfield and Greene County have identified nearly $45 million in significant city roadway projects and are working to make them a reality.

The projects comprise two new diverging diamond interchanges - an estimated $5.11 million job at Kansas Expressway and James River Freeway and a $14.8 million job at Battlefield Road and U.S. Highway 65; a $13 million widening of South Glenstone Avenue; and construction of an $11.8 million overpass on East Chestnut Expressway.

The projects are part of MoDOT's cost-share/economic development program, which got its start in 1998 and works via local community support.

MoDOT - which this month began a roughly $3.2 million diverging diamond interchange at Chestnut Expressway and Highway 65 to be finished late this year - likely would begin work on the interchange at Kansas Expressway and James River Freeway next spring, said Don Saiko, MoDOT project manager.

The project would create the city's fourth diverging diamond interchange. MoDOT would pay half the cost; the city of Springfield would pay $2.06 million through leftover 1/8-cent sales tax funding; and Greene County, via federal funding, would pay $500,000, said Frank Miller, MoDOT planning manager for the southwest district.

The Greene County funding first needs to be approved by the Ozarks Transportation Organization, the metropolitan planning organization for the Springfield area, responsible for prioritizing federal funds for area transportation projects. This morning, the organization's technical committee voted to recommend the project to the OTO Board of Directors, which will meet May 10, according to Natasha Longpine, principal planner for OTO.

With board support, the Kansas-James River diverging diamond plan would be sent to the governor's office and the U.S. Department of Transportation for approval, she said.

If the project meets proper regulatory approval, contractor bids would be accepted in August for the spring build, Saiko said, noting the project would take about six months to complete.

Saiko said the diverging diamond would be similar to the one near CoxHealth at National Avenue and James River Freeway, with three lanes crossing the bridge south - one dedicated to turning onto the freeway - and two lanes heading northbound - with one shared for turning west onto the freeway.

The city also is using leftover 1/8-cent sales tax funding for its portion of a project that would widen South Glenstone Avenue to six lanes between Battlefield Road and James River Freeway. MoDOT, through its cost-sharing program, is paying for 50 percent of the project, with Springfield and Greene County footing the remainder of the bill, Miller said.

Miller said that project would likely get under way in 2014.

A bill recommending the use of the extra 1/8-cent sales tax funds for the Kansas Expressway and James River Freeway interchange and the South Glenstone six-lane project is expected to go before City Council during its May 7 meeting. The city also is planning to use leftover funds to upgrade traffic signals in town.

Springfield's fifth planned diverging diamond interchange at Battlefield Road and U.S. Highway 65 and a railroad overpass on East Chestnut Expressway are contingent upon the renewal of the city's 1/8-cent sales tax in August, Miller said. He said Springfield and Greene County would pay for 55 percent of the Battlefield-65 diverging diamond project, with MoDOT picking up the remaining tab.

With that project, Miller said the Battlefield Road bridge crossing Highway 65 would be completely replaced since it is to the point of being "structurally deficient." The project likely would begin in 2015, he said.

The East Chestnut Expressway overpass would free up congestion at the railroad crossing just west of Highway 65 near Ingram Mill Road, Miller said, noting the project would likely be taken up in 2015.