Work on the Miami bridge could begin, as MoDOT Project Manager Preston Kramer hopes it will, "the day after the Glasgow bridge re-opens."

If Kramer's dream comes true, residents in communities north of the bridge will then begin a detour that could cost them hundreds of dollars a month and at least two more hours commuting an extra 120 miles every day.

Running the numbers makes the picture quite clear.

The nearest bridges across the Missouri are at Waverly and Glasgow, each about 30 miles from where the Miami bridge sits.

That means that to merely get across to the other side of the 2,072-foot bridge, it's a 30-mile drive to another bridge, and a 30-mile ride back to Missouri Highway 41.

That comes to 60 miles in the morning and 60 miles in the evening. In an average working year of 250 days, that's 30,000 extra miles.

With the price of gasoline at $3 per gallon, it will cost $3,600 to make that drive, if your car gets 25 miles per gallon.

And that's just the cost of the gasoline. The Internal Revenue Service's mileage rate for 2007, which includes not only gasoline but also depreciation and other driving costs, is 48.5 cents per mile, bringing the "real" cost of the extra driving to more than $14,000 per year.

State Senator Bill Stouffer, on hand at a public meeting in Brunswick Thursday, Jan. 10, acknowledged the inconvenience, but added "not doing the repair would be even more inconvenient. Any time there are improvements, there is also inconvenience, but the reward is well worth it."

Stouffer pointed to the length of the timeline, and emphasized that public meetings being held now, far in advance of the actual project, will allow area residents to plan ahead.

Although the Glasgow bridge will close in less than nine months, closing of the Miami bridge is at least 18 months in the future.

Mayor Rick DeRenzy of Brunswick is also in favor of the project. He said, "This will be a lot better bridge."

DeRenzy, an Emergency Medical Technician, said, "We just got a new, bigger ambulance. That bridge is scary in a smaller truck, so a larger one will be even worse."

He added, "It's unhandy, but a new bridge will be nicer and a lot safer."

Employers in Saline County haven't quite come to grips with the disruption that could result from closure of the bridge, since most of them contacted for this story don't yet know how many of their employees will be affected.

Marshall Habilitation Center employs more than 900 people; they're just beginning to compile the numbers, but a representative said, "It could be a pretty good number."

Cargill Meat Solutions could have as many as 100 of their approximately 500 employees affected, according to Karen Elliott of the human resources department.

Elliott said she isn't aware of much carpooling among employees.

Neither Wal-Mart nor Fitzgibbon Hospital had any hard numbers, and, at least so far, no plans to assist employees with their lengthy commute.

All of that may change as the bridge closing gets closer.

MoDOT has no plans to operate a ferry. A proposed ferry for the 1983 renovation came to nothing when the ferry operator backed out at the last minute over concerns the operation wouldn't be profitable, according to MoDOT's Kramer.

There are plenty of problems associated with providing over-water transport.

First, there's the issue of funding -- who pays for a barge or a ferry and how would they be reimbursed?

Second, there's the problem of what to do when the river is impassable -- flooding, low water and freezing are the biggest issues.

And third (but not a small issue) -- are there landings on either side of the bridge that are easily accessible or that could be made accessible quickly and economically?

And then there's the issue of scheduling -- when should a ferry be available to cross? All day or only at certain hours?

MoDOT had hoped that the bid accepted for the Glasgow bridge would be sufficiently less than the projected cost of the project to provide some funding for alternatives, but that didn't happen at Glasgow and probably won't happen for Miami.

It's a very difficult situation for all concerned.

And just about the only thing that is clear right now is that there are no clear and economically feasible solutions.

Contact Kathy Fairchild at marshallhealth@socket.net