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GLASGOW - General John J. Pershing no doubt drove his Army jeep on it. Harry Truman probably rode across it in his quest to be Missouri's senator. Bonnie and Clyde likely sped over it to escape the police. Now, highway engineers say the 85-year-old bridge is in serious need of repair.
Finding a new way to stretch the big muddy could stretch Glasgow to the limit. Like Saline and Howard counties are split by the river, feelings in Glasgow are split between preparing for the future and dealing with a burden too heavy for even a truck.
Robert Duren was born near Glasgow right around the time the bridge was first built.
"We used to go across the river. We had relatives who lived in Marshall, Missouri. And, the road - one half of it was concrete and the other half was dirt," Duren said.
The Glasgow bridge has changed a lot since then. But, MoDOT said it still hasn't kept up with the flow.
Tuesday's proposal added three options to the construction current. First -- build a totally new bridge - a plan MoDOT said it can't afford. Next -- rehabilitate the current structure - a plan it says doesn't fix the problem. Last, replace parts of the bridge.
Replacing parts creates problems, department of transportation spokesperson Brian Haeffner said.
"We'd have to close the bridge. That period is going to be from nine to 12 months," Haeffner said.
Closing the bridge is a problem Duren said Glasgow can't afford.
"I don't know what there going to do when they do that, because people have to go a long way around to get across from the other side," he said.
The long way around equals sixty miles.
"There's a lot of impacts. People needing to go to work and go to school - making deliveries and those sorts of things," Haeffner said.
MoDOT is working on ways to get people across without the bridge. Most of the current possibilities are cases of the cure being worse than the disease.
The possible solutions include a ferry, a shuttle system, or even possibly using the railway bridge to get vehicles over.
Reported by: Michael Chesney
Edited by: Liz Langton
Published: Thursday, July 26, 2007 at 9:24 PM
Last Updated: Friday, July 27, 2007 at 5:46 AM |
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