November 17, 2009

SIKESTON- The Missouri Department of Transportation will hold a community briefing on Tuesday, Nov. 24 to discuss upcoming bridge projects in Perry County.

The meeting will be held at the Perry Park Center, located at 800 City Park Drive in Perryville, from 4 to 6 p.m.

MoDOT staff will be on-hand to discuss two upcoming bridge projects on Highway 51-the Bois Brule Creek Bridge at McBride and the Chester Bridge over the Mississippi River. Improvements to both of these bridges could begin as early as spring 2010.

The Bois Brule Creek Bridge project includes replacing the bridge deck through MoDOT's Safe and Sound program. Typically, Safe and Sound projects involve a road closure. However, due to the volume of truck traffic in this area, work will be staged. Temporary signals will be in place. Once work begins, the project is expected to be completed in 90 days.

The Chester Bridge project will be completed through a cost share between MoDOT and the State of Illinois. The project includes patching and sealing the bridge deck. Once improvements are underway, lane restrictions and temporary traffic signals will be in place. The project is expected to be completed by summer 2010.

For more information about the Bois Brule Creek Bridge, please contact Project Manager Andy Meyer at (573) 472-5296, 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636), or log onto <a href="http://www.modot.org/">http://www.modot.org/</u> and click on the "Safe and Sound" logo. For more information about the Chester Bridge project, please contact Project Manager Eric Krapf at (573) 472-5261.