Work underway on Jefferson Avenue Footbridge rehabilitation

The city of Springfield was joined by construction crews and Commercial Street stakeholders for a ceremony this morning that marked the formal start of long-held plans to rehabilitate the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge.

During the ceremony, crews removed a portion of the bridge as spectators watched from the C-Street Market Pavilion. The city previously announced that the historic structure would be taken down temporarily for the work. 

“For more than a century, the Jefferson Avenue footbridge has connected more than just two sides of the tracks. It has connected neighbors, generations and given a deep sense of place that runs through our entire community and in fact the entire metropolitan area," Mayor Jeff Schrag said at the ceremony. "This project has been a long time coming."

Councilmember Monica Horton, who represents Zone 1, was among the speakers at the ceremony.

"It symbolizes our rich history, entrepreneurial spirit and resilient character," she said of the footbridge. "I am excited to see this project kick off after so many years, and I can't wait to see the bridge reopen."

Branco Enterprises Inc. and Great River Engineering Inc. are working with the city's Public Works Department as the construction team behind the Jefferson Avenue Footbridge project. The project website lists the financing as follows: an $8 million direct appropriation from the state of Missouri's fiscal 2024 budget; $2.5 million in bond funding; $2 million from the BNSF Railway Co.; $400,000 from the city's quarter-cent capital improvement and one-eighth-cent transportation sales taxes; and $50,000 from C-Street supporters. The project is slated for completion in early 2026.

The city closed the more than century-old, 562-foot-long bridge – crossing 13 railroad tracks between Commercial and Chase streets – in March 2016, citing corrosion and the loss of steel in its northern support, according to past reporting.