Public hears progress, gives thoughts on plans for I-229 replacement

By Cameron Montemayor

Residents from St. Joseph and across the state packed the Remington Nature Center on Thursday to review progress and voice their thoughts on plans for replacing the Interstate 229 Double-Decker Bridge in St. Joseph. 

The preferred alternative for replacing the bridge would see construction of a new four-lane arterial roadway constructed at-grade — elevated as necessary for compliance with floodplain and stormwater requirements — in nearly the same location as the existing structure between the railroad tracks and the Missouri River.

“We’re estimating about $70 to $80 million right now to do this,” said Marty Liles, Northwest District engineer with the Missouri Department of Transportation. “As inflation jumps in there it’s always going to be a big factor. I think when we get into it and really get into the design of it, that’s when we’re really going to find out what those those costs are.”

Missouri Department of Transportation officials sought public feedback on the economic and social effects of the design, its impact on the environment and its consistency with community goals and objectives. 

St. Joseph residents George and Norma Morey attended the meeting and voiced concerns about how the project — which could take more than five years to complete — would impact traffic for an extended period of time for drivers. Roughly 17,000 vehicles use the bridge daily, many of them freight vehicles. 

Kenneth Reeder is opposed to the plan and would prefer to see a historical part of St. Joseph rehabilitated instead of demolished. Previous estimates showed completely replacing the bridge with a comparable structure could cost more than double the price of the preferred alternative for a ground level roadway. 

“We’re going to disrupt 17,000 people’s lives every day,” Reeder said. “All these other concepts are very invasive.”

Given the size of the project, Liles said the impact on traffic would be significant regardless of which plan was selected.

Originally constructed between 1976 and 1985, the 40-year-old bridge received the equivalent to a C- rating at its April 2021 inspection and has a lifespan of 50 years. 

“This is a very complex structure. It’s got concrete girders, they’ve got steel girders. It’s got steel abutments and things like that. It’s starting to rust. So we see a lot of degradation,” he said. 

Reeder also has concerns about the plan’s long-term impact on access to Downtown and the Missouri River. As part of the preferred alternative, access to Downtown from I-229 will only be provided south at Fourth Street and north at a new interchange at U.S. Route 59 and St. Joseph Avenue. 

Thursday’s meeting comes on the heels of the Federal Highway Administration approving an environmental assessment of I-229 in July, a document developed through years of extensive coordination with local and state officials. The assessment provided a technical evaluation of human and natural environmental impacts to determine if improving or eliminating the bridge would be necessary and what the best corridor in which a new structure and/or roadway would follow. 

“For the last five, six years, we’ve been looking at this study, environmental studies are can take a long time to look at all the impacts,” Liles said. “This alternative that we have now, a huge milestone that we got that to the federal highway and got their approval.”

Liles said an additional benefit with the preferred alternative is if future pavement repair work is needed on a particular section, the impact on traffic would be much lower than with the double-decker system. 

“Any time that we do work on that double decker, especially on that top deck and when we’re doing any kind of pavement repairs or jackhammering on that, we’ve got to close the traffic down on the bottom deck as well because we don’t want that concrete as we’re working up there to fall on oncoming traffic,” he said. 

Local and state officials have made significant progress on developing a plan for replacing the structure, but several steps remain before project construction can begin. 

Following Thursday’s public hearing, the Federal Highway Administration will consider the Recommended Preferred Alternative in the fall and either issue a Finding of No Significant Impact or decide if there is a need to develop an Environmental Impact Statement. If FHWA issues a Finding of No Significant Impact, then MoDOT may begin the design process.

Securing the necessary funding for the project will dictate when construction likely begins in either 2027 or 2028. Local transportation officials are also working to secure additional grants to pair with state and federal funds to hopefully allow construction to start even sooner. 

Subsequently, as part of the I-229 alternatives evaluation process, MoDOT is recommending de-designating I-229 as an interstate highway from its northern terminus at Interstate 29 to its southern terminus at Interstate 29, a distance of 15 miles through St. Joseph. The de-designation request would occur prior to demolition and construction.

For those not able to attend the in-person public hearing, all display materials, information and comment forms will be available on the project website at www.modot.org/stjoe229 through Friday, Aug. 30.