The Highway 41 Missouri River bridge at Miami is due for major renovations, according to Missouri Department of Transportation officials. At a public meeting Tuesday, Jan. 8, MoDOT presented three options for area residents to consider and comment upon. (Democrat-News file photo) [Click to enlarge]

That's the word from Kurt Wengert, resident engineer in the Marshall office of Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT), regarding the pending closures of the Miami and Glasgow bridges.

Wengert made his comments at a public meeting at Miami School Tuesday, Jan. 8.

That's good news for the estimated 1,290 daily users of the Miami bridge, but, says MoDOT Project Manager Preston Kramer, "It is a hardship (for bridge users), no way to avoid it."

According to a traffic study done by MoDOT in September 2007, the Miami bridge traffic peaks at about 102 users per hour, mostly car traffic at 82 percent, with the remaining traffic made up of small trucks and buses (3 percent), larger trucks (5 percent) and tractor-trailers (10 percent).

The study also showed that 70 percent of the trips are "essential," mainly to work and school and about 50 percent of the trips are made daily.

Most of that traffic occurs in the morning, tapers off during the day and peaks again late in the afternoon, reflecting school or work hours.

Built in 1939, the Miami bridge was rehabilitated in 1983. Since then, it has been inspected annually and repaired as necessary in that period. It is rated a four (structurally deficient) by department standards.

MoDOT's presentation at the Miami meeting offered three options:

-- The first option is "No-Build." This is, in the short term, the cheapest option. It would require the continuation of annual inspections, occasional closings while needed repairs were underway and does nothing to improve the width of the narrow, 23-foot roadway.

-- The second option is to rehabilitate the existing bridge at a cost of $12-14 million. This would extend the life of the bridge by approximately 10 to 15 years, but would still require regular closings for maintenance and still does nothing to improve the roadway's width. The bridge would be closed for approximately three months.

-- The last option, at a cost of $14-16 million, would see the removal of the existing deck and steelwork from the piers, and installation of new steel and a wider, 26-foot deck. The bridge would be closed for about a year.

For regular bridge users, the bridge closing presents a considerable displacement.

Margaret Land and her co-worker, Ruth Heishman, live just across the river in Miami Junction. The two commute to Slater daily for their jobs at GE Energy.

The trip already takes an hour; the bridge closure adds 120 miles to the early-morning drive. Their work day begins at 5:30 a.m.

Land's brother, Eldon, works at Miami school. His extremely short commute will turn into an extremely long one.

The only option for Heimsoth and the Lands is crossing the river at either Waverly or Glasgow, each of which is 30 miles in the wrong direction.

Kramer was frank in his appraisal of the situation for the 1,300 or so travelers who will experience immediate difficulties the day the bridge shuts down.

He expressed his sympathy for them, acknowledging how difficult it will be, and how expensive, in the era of $3 per gallon gas (or higher).

"It wasn't an easy decision (to propose full closure for a year)," he said, "if it was easy, we wouldn't be having a public meeting."

The next public meeting will be Thursday, Jan. 10, in Brunswick. The turnout is expected to be higher than the 25 to 30 who turned out for the Miami meeting.

Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net