The Jefferson County Public Works Department will hold an open house-style meeting on Thursday, Jan. 11, to share information about its plan to build a bridge over Plattin Creek on Boyce Lane in southern Jefferson County where currently there’s just a low-water crossing. The meeting will take place from 4-6 p.m. in the second-floor conference room in the Jefferson County Annex, 725 Maple St., in Hillsboro. The public is invited to view the plans and offer feedback about them.
The low-water crossing, commonly called “The Slab,” is on Boyce Lane between Hwy. TT and Plattin Road south of Festus.
The area is impassable during flooding, forcing local residents, as well as emergency services like the Jefferson R-7 Fire Protection District, the Joachim-Plattin Ambulance District and the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, to detour several miles.
The area also has been the site of at least one drowning and several rescues after swimmers have attempted to “shoot the chute” through large-diameter pipes where water passes under the concrete slab.
Another problem with the area occurs when visitors park along the road and impede traffic.
“It’s a safety thing,” said Amy Manns, transportation director for the Jefferson R-7 School District, which has buses travel the crossing. “People just want to play in the creek, but they obstruct the road and we can’t get the buses through, they can’t get a firetruck or an ambulance through.”
Public Works Director Jason Jonas said the county has received a $2.2 million grant from the Department of Natural Resources for the project.
“Just over $400,00 of (the cost) is county participation and the rest, $1.7 million, is from the state,” Jonas said. “These are ARPA funds that have to be spent by 2026.”
Plans for the project call for a slab-on-pile concrete bridge that would elevate and straighten the roadway leading to the crossing. The road also would be widened and its banks stabilized to help prevent erosion.
“There’s a small remnant parcel of property that we are looking at as a pull-off parking situation, so people can still wade in the creek,” Jonas said. “This is a Corps of Engineers-regulated waterway; people are legally allowed to be in the creek. If they’re going to be there, why not make it as safe as possible? The way we’re designing, it’s the lowest cost and the lowest impact.”
The bridge project would involve full closure of Boyce Lane for several months.
Jonas said an April 2023 traffic study showed about 272 cars per day make the crossing, which is “about average for these county roads.”
The Jefferson County Council has awarded the engineering contract for the project to Abna Engineering in St. Louis, which Jonas said has been working on the design and right-of-way acquisition over the past few months.
With preliminary plans complete, the meeting will offer the public a chance to learn about the project and offer comments and suggestions. To submit a comment online, go to the Boyce Lane bridge comment sheet on Jefferson County website. The deadline to submit a comment is Jan. 26.