The Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation Advisory Committee prioritized 11 projects for the Off-System Regional Bridge Program

The Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s (MRPC) Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC), meeting this month prioritized 11 projects for the Off-System Regional Bridge Program, also known as the BRO program. All of the bridges submitted for consideration are on the local road system (city or county) and are in poor condition per MoDOT inspection standards. Previously, counties were allocated funds for derelict BRO bridges, and it usually took three to four years for a county to accumulate enough dollars and the 20 percent match to replace a bridge. Now the money is pooled at the MoDOT district level and allocated by regional planning officials and local representatives selected by the TAC. MoDOT accepted applications for the top priority bridges by each eligible county, and all submitted applications from the Meramec Region’s cities and counties were reviewed and ranked by the TAC.

The 11 bridge projects evaluated and ranked in descending order were:

1. High Point Road bridge over Brush Creek in Crawford County;

2. Osage County Road 611 bridge over Maries River in Osage County;

3. Rohlfing Road bridge over Little Berger (BURR-JURR) Creek in Gasconade County;

4. Phelps County Road 2110 bridge over Branch Spring Creek in Phelps County;

4. Rosebud Road bridge over Snake Creek in Pulaski County;

6. Ruskaup (ROOS-kopp) Road bridge over Second Creek in Gasconade County;

6. Floyd Tower Road bridge over Fourche Renault Creek in Washington County;

8. Four Mile Road bridge over Brush Creek and Please Valley Creek in Crawford County;

9. Osage County Road 522 bridge over CR521/Hwy P in Osage County;

10. Riverside Road bridge over the Gasconade River in Pulaski County; and

11. Gildea Road bridge over Clear Creek in Washington County.

These priorities will be submitted to MoDOT for consideration in its planning work. In July, MRPC Executive Director Bonnie Prigge and Osage County Commissioner and TAC member Larry Kliethermes will meet with other planning partners in MoDOT’s Central District to determine projects to be funded. Kim Tipton with MoDOT told TAC members that grant requests exceed funds available by about $8 million so there will be some tough decisions to make.