US 67 crossovers closing Monday

The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will close six median crossovers Monday on U.S. 67 at Bray Road, Holly Tree Lane, Michael Lane, Hunt Road, Fairgrounds and Red Rooster Road/Busenbark Lane.

&#8220We’ll close all the crossovers at the same time by placing barricades across them,” MoDOT District Engineer Mark Shelton said. &#8220The pavement will then be physically removed.”

Signs and message boards have been posted along the highway announcing closure of the crossovers and advising drivers to use the east and west outer roads to access local businesses. MoDOT encourages motorists to use extreme caution near the former crossovers and be alert for drivers who slow down to make a turn that no longer is allowed.

No more turns across the road will be allowed. If you are headed to businesses across the highway, you will have to take the Leadington or Maple Street exit and use the respective outer road to get there.

Drivers will still be able to make right-on, right-off turns from the southbound lanes to the west outer road. Northbound drivers will have similar access to and from businesses on the east side of the highway.

Under the plan, the Fairgrounds exit and Holly Tree Lane will have a right-in, right-out turn from both northbound and southbound lanes. Hunt Road and Busenbark Road/Red Rooster Road exits will have a right-in, right-out turn only from the northbound lanes. Michael Lane will have the same turns in the southbound lanes only, with no access on the east side. No turns will be allowed from either side of the highway at Bray Road.

Work on barricading the crossovers should begin at 7:30 a.m. Monday and end an hour later, according to Don Edgar, maintenance supervisor in MoDOT’s Park Hills office. Workers then will begin removing pavement at each crossover and will prepare the land so it will blend in with the rest of the median.

Last year, MoDOT workers completed a similar project when they eliminated the crossover on U.S. 67 at Liberty Street.

Plans call for the six closures to be completed by Wednesday.

&#8220We plan to start on Monday with Red Rooster, Fairgrounds/Hefner and Hunt Road,” Edgar explained. &#8220If everything goes well on Monday, we’ll do the next three on Tuesday.”

The closures initially were scheduled in November, after completion of the west service road. After local businesses raised concerns about losing customers due to confusion about access routes, MoDOT postponed the closures, developed several options and met with citizens, business owners, emergency workers, school officials and city leaders to gather input on the best way to handle the closures.

However, area emergency responders said the crossovers are necessary for the safety of drivers. Several serious accidents have occurred on the highway as a result of cars trying to use the crossovers, they told MoDOT officials during public meetings.

&#8220I want to thank the folks of St. Francois County for their help, understanding and patience in this process of determining the closure of the crossovers,” says Shelton. &#8220We worked very closely with local officials, business owners, emergency personnel and the public during the last several months to develop a plan for these improvements to Route 67.”

In the end, the initial plan proved to be the most popular among citizens and most cost efficient for the department. Along with the decision to implement the first plan, MoDOT also agreed to construct a ramp from Maple Street to the northbound lanes of U.S. 67. The state also will move up construction dates for the last part of the project – the $8 million Fairgrounds interchange.

Construction of the exchange originally was to start in 2007, but that starting date was moved up a year. MoDOT officials expect the interchange to open late this year. Shelton added that incentives would be incorporated into the contract to encourage an early finish to the project.

For more information, call MoDOT’s Customer Service Center toll-free at 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636).