Officials break ground for Chadwick Flyer Trail bridge

Construction on a key multimillion-dollar component of an ongoing greenway trail project between Springfield and Ozark is underway following a July 17 groundbreaking ceremony in Ozark.

Officials from the city of Ozark, Ozarks Transportation Organization and Ozark Greenways Inc. were among those who broke ground for a pedestrian bridge at the event. It was held near the 39-mile marker of Highway 65 and next to the distribution center of electronics company Creative Audio, 2151 Lakeland Drive. The Highway 65 overpass project is part of the Chadwick Flyer Trail, a roughly 12-mile regional trail designed for cyclists, joggers and walkers.

The steel-span bridge project, which also incorporates connections along the trail, will cost roughly $5.3 million, said Jeremy Parsons, city of Ozark Public Works director. Radmacher Brothers Excavating Co. Inc. is general contractor, with engineering work from Crawford, Murphy & Tilly Inc. While Parsons originally thought work could begin by as early as February, a few months’ delay isn’t changing the completion target, he said, projecting a spring 2026 finish.

The trail spans roughly 12 miles of the original Chadwick Flyer rail line that covered almost 17 miles from National Avenue near downtown Springfield to Ozark’s Finley River Trail. In development since 2019, the project is a collaborative effort between the city of Ozark, OTO and Ozark Greenways. A cost study completed last year for part of the greenway trail project pushed the total price estimate to over $30 million.

“The segment today will complete 5.5 miles of the 12-mile trail. So, we’re just almost at the halfway point with this project,” said Sara Fields, OTO executive director, at the groundbreaking.

Work cumination
Parsons said the event represents “a culmination of so much work, so much effort and so many people.”

“This is not a city of Ozark thing,” he said. “This is a regional thing, and I want you all to know that it has taken so many people to get this win and to help our entire region. It’s an ecotourism and an economic development opportunity for this community.”

The project, which Parsons said includes building an additional roughly 4,000 linear feet near the overpass, totals nearly 7,000 linear feet and ties into a portion of the trail on property owned by Tracker Marine near North 21st Street.

Fields said finding the best way for the Chadwick Flyer to cross Highway 65 was a longtime “huge obstacle.”

Parsons agreed.

“This has been the bottleneck just simply because Highway 65 is somewhat of a juggernaut,” he said after the event. “We analyzed this multiple different ways. We thought about going under; ultimately, we decided to go over because it’s going to be a statement piece for the city of Ozark and for the region.”

Ozark City Administrator Eric Johnson called the pedestrian bridge “a game-changer” for the trail project.

“When I showed up, the hard work was finished,” Johnson said. He joined the city staff a year ago, when the greenway project was already in progress. “Jeremy and all the team members and the partners that are here today have done the heavy lifting, and I get to be part of the team that celebrates the success of the hard work of what you did to bring this to fruition.”

Parsons said officials were able to acquire property on the west side for the overpass project from Mark Wolansky, who owns Ozark Body Works, while Don Fleury, who owns Creative Audio, donated land on the east side of the highway.

Fleury invested $2 million to relocate the headquarters and distribution center for his electronics business in 2019 to Ozark from Springfield, according to past reporting.

Fleury said the trail development was a conversation topic even before he bought the land for his business.

“When we bought the land here to develop our warehouse, we had talked with the city about what the future looked like,” he said. “It was a partnership really of us developing here but then acquiring the land to grant easements to get the trail going.”

Fleury said the trail could be a future employment attractor for his company, seeing it as a draw to hire employees who want to be connected to greenway trails.

State aid
Nearly $1.2 million for the project was provided to the city of Ozark from American Rescue Plan Act funds via the Missouri Department of Economic Development as part of the state’s Local Tourism Asset Development program, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting. Kim Froemsdorf, director of federal initiatives with the DED, was among those attending the groundbreaking.

“It’s a remarkable investment in infrastructure, connectivity and community,” she said. “The project represents more than just a path or a bridge. It’s a symbol of your community’s commitment to revitalization, quality of life and smart, future-focused growth.”

Froemsdorf said when the DED received the state’s ARPA money, the trail’s pedestrian bridge was the kind of project the department wanted to support – one that creates lasting value for a community and strengthens its foundations.

“The Chadwick Flyer project exemplifies how infrastructure can bring people together and contribute to thriving downtowns, healthier lifestyles and stronger local economies,” she said.

The project also received funding from OTO, the city of Ozark, Christian County and Ozark Greenways, according to past reporting.