Residents who live off Sycamore Lane in House Springs are invited to weigh in on plans to replace a bridge over Bear Creek.
The public hearing will be held from 4-7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, in the library at Valley Middle School, 4300 Gravois Road, in House Springs.
“We’re looking to get public comment and feedback before we do the final design for the project,” said Public Works Director Jason Jonas.
He said the bridge is about 61 years old and was built on a large family-owned property.
“From what I understand, this one family once owned everything in the area,” he said. “There was a street through their property off the county road (Carol Park Road), and the bridge was put in over Bear Creek.”
Through the years, the property was sold off and the road deeded to the county. It’s now called Sycamore Lane.
“There’s a surprising number of homes on the east side of the road,” Jonas said. “There are 116 parcels on that side of the bridge.”
About 1,938 vehicles cross the bridge daily, he said.
However, Jonas said because the bridge has been deteriorating, a detour has been set up to reduce daily traffic count.
“It’s structurally deficient, definitely past its expected life,” he said, “and it’s functionally deficient because it has only one lane.”
Jonas said a replacement bridge will be at least 24 feet wide rather than the current 14 feet, which will accommodate two lanes of traffic. Construction is scheduled to start in the fall 2022 and wrap that winter.
The project will cost an estimated $531,478, with the federal government paying 80 percent of the final cost and the rest coming from the county’s share of a countywide 1/2-cent road and bridge sales tax.