COOPER COUNTY, MO – The Missouri Department of Transportation has closed one westbound lane of Interstate 70 at mile marker 93 in Cooper County due to required bridge repairs. During a routine inspection of the bridge, a crack was found in one of the bridge’s steel beams and MoDOT crews must take immediate action to keep the bridge open to traffic.

“The damage that developed on the Lamine River bridge on I-70 is symptomatic of Missouri’s transportation funding problem,” said MoDOT Director Dave Nichols. “Without continuous investment in rehabilitation and replacement projects, this will keep happening, more and more frequently.”

Work will take place beginning March 16 and could last up to three days. One westbound lane will be closed until a temporary repair is in place, and motorists are advised to use caution and prepare for slow traffic in the area.

The bridge passes over the Lamine River, and is located about nine miles west of Boonville. The bridge is about 50 years old, and like many other bridges on Missouri’s state system, it is showing its age. Unfortunately, MoDOT’s shrinking construction budget means replacing this bridge, and others like it, is not a possibility.

“Without additional transportation funding, we’ll see more bridges with weight restrictions, and some will need to be closed indefinitely,” said Nichols. “When that happens, the economic vitality of our state and mobility of Missourians will be compromised.”

MoDOT is responsible for maintaining nearly 10,400 bridges, currently about 600 of them are in poor or serious condition. To replace them all is simply not possible, especially considering MoDOT’s construction budget will fall to $325 million by 2017. That’s far below the $485 million needed annually just to keep Missouri’s roads and bridges in the condition they are in today.