MoDOT takes public comment on 60/65 interchange rebuild

The interchange, which will be rebuilt starting in 2009, will comprise two directional flyover ramps to ease congestion and eliminate criss-crossing merge points on the northbound U.S. 65 bridge over U.S. 60. Bridges also will be built for U.S. 60 and the adjacent ramps over the railroad tracks that currently cross the highway.

A public-comment meeting was scheduled for April 19 at Springfield Conservation Nature Center, after which MoDOT officials were slated to post diagrams, aerial photographs and other information about the new interchange on a Web site built for the project, www.6065inter

change.org. Comments can be submitted through May 3 at the “Contact Us” page of the project Web site.

The $60 million project, which should be complete in 2012, is a major priority for MoDOT. Money for the project is slated to come from Amendment 3 funds and MoDOT’s “Taking Care of the System” fund. The department also is working with the city of Springfield to put funds in place to make the structure more aesthetically pleasing.

A similar rebuild is ongoing at the cloverleaf interchange of Interstate 44 and U.S. 65. A flyover ramp connecting northbound U.S. 65 and westbound I-44 is being added. The ramp connecting northbound to eastbound traffic is being rebuilt, northbound U.S. 65 is being repaved, and a bridge over I-44 is being reconstructed.

The $25 million project could be finished as early as December.