Closed no longer: MoDOT re-opens I-29 north of St. Joseph after Iowa makes partial flood repairs

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

An empty I-29 after MoDOT closed it to traffic.

A surprise, and a pleasant one for northwest Missouri travelers, as the Missouri Department of Transportation re-opened Interstate 29 this morning after Iowa made sufficient repairs to allow for traffic there much earlier than expected.

Earlier projections pegged the re-opening closer to the Memorial Day weekend.

Missouri Department of Transportation Assistant Maintenance and Traffic Engineer Jennifer Sardigal says Iowa moved quicker than expected to make I-29 functional again.

“I-29 did re-open about 10 o’clock this morning,” Sardigal tells St. Joseph Post. “Iowa got their roadway open to head-to-head traffic on I-29. They did not open (Highway) 2, but they are open at (Highway) 34, so they are allowing traffic into Iowa. So we, as promised, followed along and opened I-29 so that everybody can get from St. Joe to Iowa.”

Missouri River flooding overflowed and heavily damaged I-29 in southwest Iowa, forcing the Iowa Department of Transportation to close the interstate south of the Council Bluffs/Omaha metro area. That action has a ripple effect, causing MoDOT to close the interstate to traffic just north of St. Joseph at Highway 71.

Four-lane interstate traffic will be squeezed into two lanes over a portion of I-29 in southwest Iowa while further repairs are being made. Wide loads will not be permitted to travel that intersection and will have to find an alternative route.

Sardigal acknowledges the re-opening came sooner than expected.

“It’s been in the works for a few days,” according to Sardigal. “They (IDOT) gave out a contract deadline of Memorial Day, but the contractor was able to get done sooner. So, as soon as the contractor was able to, we opened the road.”

The closing snarled traffic throughout the region, especially in eastern Kansas as trucks and cars traveled west across Highway 36 to take Route 75 or 77 into Nebraska. I-29 carries about 12,000 cars and trucks daily through northwest Missouri.

MoDOT had directed northbound traffic to take I-35 to I-80 in Iowa, then across to I-29. Highway 71 north of St. Joseph also served as an alternative route, but truck drivers and motorists appeared to prefer traveling Highway 36 into Kansas, then north on Route 75 to Nebraska, taking either Highway 2 into Lincoln or continuing on 75 to Omaha.

Though I-29 has re-opened, Highway 2 into Nebraska City remains closed.

Sardigal says MoDOT closed I-29 just north of St. Joseph at Highway 71 as the best alternative under the circumstances.

“We didn’t want to drop a bunch of traffic onto low-volume routes for safety reasons and we didn’t want to drop off a bunch of traffic into Iowa when they had nowhere to go.”

But, now, they do.