The Missouri Department of Transportation is upgrading a small roadside park along Hwy. 61-67 just north of the Festus-Crystal City area to meet Americans with Disabilities Act requirements, says Judy Wagner, a MoDOT area engineer.
Work on Austin-Pitcairn Roadside Park, along the highway’s southbound lanes, began in March and should be finished in the next few weeks, she said Friday (April 8).
“The picnic tables and parking spots were not ADA compliant,” Wagner said. “There will now be a handicap-accessible parking space among the nine spaces. We’re replacing the picnic tables, and one of the four new ones will be handicap-accessible. We’re also going to bring in new trash cans that are the height required under ADA.”
Access to the park has been limited during the work because newly poured concrete needs to settle, she said.
“It’s not actually closed, but the new picnic tables have not been brought in yet,” Wagner said. “We’re waiting for the concrete to cure.”
She said MoDOT employees are handling the project.
“We’re doing the work in-house. We don’t have a final cost,” Wagner said.
According to a plaque in the park, it is named after Moses Austin and John Pitcairn Jr., early Jefferson County industrialists.