Eureka officials have cleared the final hurdle to begin the construction phase for a new Allenton bridge.
The Board of Aldermen voted unanimously Dec. 19 to approve an overpass agreement with the Union Pacific Railroad Co.
The board had approved an easement agreement with BNSF Railway on Aug. 1.
Both railroads have separate tracks that go under the bridge.
“To get (the project) done will be fantastic,” Ward 3 Alderman Jerry Holloway said. “I’m very excited.”
Mayor Sean Flower said the city has worked for about four years to gain approval from both railroads and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) on design proposals for a new span.
“It’s a huge web to try and get these types of bridges and these types of programs approved by all these different agencies,” Flower said. “I’m ecstatic. It’s nice to check this off the list.”
City Clerk Julie Wood said MoDOT will put requests for proposals on its website regarding the project. The city projects construction for the new bridge will be completed by the end of 2024 or early in 2025.
“We’ll probably have somebody who will accept the bid sometime in January or February,” Flower said. “I would anticipate the actual start of the bridge to be in the first quarter of 2024.”
According to city documents, Union Pacific will be paid $67,986 for an easement to build the new bridge.
The project, estimated to cost $4 million, will be funded with revenue from Proposition E, a 1/2-cent sales tax voters approved in April 2018. The sales tax is expected to generate $15.9 million over 20 years, and will also go toward an $11 million government center as well as flood prevention and mitigation.
In addition to Prop E revenue, the city secured a $2 million grant from the East-West Gateway Council of Governments to cover 50 percent of the design and construction cost for the new bridge.
Flower said replacing the old, narrow and crumbling bridge was necessary. The Allenton Bridge was built in 1928. MoDOT gave it a sufficiency rating of 2 out of 100 in a 2015 inspection.
“We need to get better access to that side of town for all of our firefighters and police officers,” Flower said. “That will be good for over there.”
On Dec. 19, board members also unanimously approved an extension of a contract with Gerstner Electric Inc. of Fenton for a temporary traffic signal at the bridge for $14,000. According to city documents, the cost includes labor, maintenance and equipment for the continued use of the traffic signal through Dec. 31, 2024.
“(The bridge replacement) is really overdue,” Flower said. “I think a lot of people are ready for it to happen.”