If you drive east of Glasgow much, you’ve crossed two bridges that are older than almost anyone reading this: the Business Route 240 bridge over the CPKC Railroad, built in 1934, and the Missouri Route 3 bridge over the same rail line, built in 1941. The Missouri Department of Transportation says both have reached the end of their useful lives and are now rated in poor condition — and it’s starting the public process to replace them.
According to MoDOT, construction on both replacements is anticipated for 2027 or 2028, with each bridge closing to traffic during its own project and a signed detour routed around it while work is underway. Nothing is closing yet — this stage is about designing the replacements, and MoDOT says it wants to hear from the people who actually use these roads before it locks in a design.
“Public input is essential to help guide the design and construction process,” the department says.
The public comment period opened today, Aug. 27, and runs through Sept. 17. MoDOT is holding an in-person open house on Thursday, Sept. 3, from 4:30 to 6 p.m. at Armstrong City Hall, 106 Halley Street — it’s an open-house format, so there’s no formal presentation to sit through, just staff on hand to answer questions and look at the plans with you.
If you can’t make the meeting, you don’t have to skip the conversation. MoDOT is taking comments four ways:
- Through the project webpages on modot.org (one page per bridge)
- By email at CDCR@modot.mo.gov
- By mail to MoDOT, 1511 Missouri Boulevard, Jefferson City, MO 65109
- In person at the Sept. 3 meeting
One more date to know: if you need an accommodation to take part in the meeting — an interpreter, mobility access, anything like that — MoDOT asks that you request it by Monday, Aug. 31, by calling 573-522-5178 or emailing CDCR@modot.mo.gov.
Two nine-decade-old bridges quietly carrying rail traffic underneath them isn’t the kind of thing that usually makes anyone stop and think — until the day one of them closes and your regular route east of Glasgow disappears for a construction season. This is the window where Howard County residents actually get a say in how that plays out.