By Gary J. Groman, a.k.a. The Ole Seagull
The “functionally obsolete” and “structurally deficient” but safe condition of the Business Highway 65/MO 76 Bridge across Lake Taneycomo will be the major topic of a Missouri Department of Transportation, MoDOT Value Engineering Study next week in Springfield. The study was the major item discussed at a Sep. 5 meeting on the bridge and related transportation issues held at Hollister City Hall. It was attended by representatives of the cities of Hollister and Branson, Taney County, and the Missouri Department of Transportation, MoDOT.
Chad E. Zickefoose, MoDOT’s District 8 Transportation Project Manager said, “The study would be conducted Sep. 10 through 13 in Springfield” and would include various experts from MoDOT along with representatives from the cities of Branson and Hollister and Taney County. He also pointed out that additional expertise would be brought in on an as needed basis.
The end result of the study will be a recommendation to MoDOT that it will use in formulating its solution to the problems presented by the condition of the bridge and the traffic flow bottleneck at its east end. Zickefoose suggested that the study would more than likely take a two pronged approach in making its recommendations. One based on a budget of $5.5 million and another based on the scenario that funding is not a problem.
He said that the $5.5 million is composed of $3.5 million from MoDOT that has been budgeted for the project and about $2.0 million from “matching funds.” Half of the matching funds will come from MoDOT, increasing its share of the $5.5 million project to $4.5 million, and the other half from the cities of Branson and Hollister and Taney County. Rick Ziegenfuss, Hollister’s City Administrator, pointed out that the vast majority of the matching funds coming from local sources are coming from the federal government through Federal Urban Transportation Funds. These funds must be used within a specified period of time or are lost and are not coming from local taxes.
There was some general discussion that a more permanent solution would require substantial additional funding. Taney County Commissioner Danny Strahan said that Representative Jo Ann Emerson has expressed an interest in seeing what additional help could be provided at the federal level. It was also pointed out that a proposed Taney County sales tax increase, of one half of one percent, will be voted on in the Nov. election and that a portion of that tax would be used to help address transportation issues.
When the question was asked, “How much of the proposed tax would go to helping resolve the current problem with the bridge,” the general consensus of those talking about the tax was that the “steering committee” is still working on that. Commissioner Strahan, with no one in attendance disagreeing, also pointed out that the immediate transportation needs of our area will involve solutions and funding needs that go far beyond just the current Taneycomo bridge situation.
In referring to the current condition of the Business Highway 65/MO 76 Bridge across Lake Taneycomo as being “functionally obsolete” and “structurally deficient” but safe, MoDOT’s Zickefoose stressed the safety of the bridge and that it was the size of the existing lanes and condition of the deck that are the primary problems in that regard. He pointed out that if one of the side walks was eliminated, enabling the widening of the lanes to 12 feet, and the bridge was re decked that the bridge would not longer be either functionally obsolete or structurally deficient.
Zickefoose also informed those at the meeting that the one inch stripping and overlay project scheduled for the bridge, designed to give users of the bridge a smoother ride and extend the life of the current deck a couple of more years, is dependent on the availability of the contractor. He anticipated that the overlay, which is not part of the current project being evaluated for the bridge, will only take a few hours, will be done primarily at night, will pose minimal inconvenience to traffic, and would be scheduled so that the community had at least two days notice.
As the meeting was coming to a close, Rick Ziegenfuss, Hollister’s City Administrator, thanked MoDOT’s Chad Zickefoose for all the assistance he has given our area and for “sticking with us through all the bumps.” Zickefoose is the MoDOT Project Manager over a 12 county area and is currently managing over 30 projects.
Furnished courtesy of the Branson Daily Independent.
