The St. Charles Road bridge over Interstate 70 will be demolished at 7 p.m. Friday as the Missouri Department of Transportation works to expand Interstate 70. It will be one of 70 bridges being torn down for the Improve I-70 project.
The demolition process is expected to last from Friday to Monday. Traffic on St. Charles Road will not have direct access to or from I-70 and will be rerouted to avoid construction. A segment of I-70 Drive S.E. has been closed since March 23 and will remain closed for an anticipated 10 months.
In a news conference, project director Jeff Gander asked for the public’s patience as MoDOT workers undergo an “unbelievable amount of work” during the demolition process. Alternate Route Z and Clark Lane will remain open for the construction traffic.
During the construction, I-70 will be down to one lane each way and speeds will be reduced to 55 mph. Gander said the majority of work will be completed at night, but the public should expect up to one-hour delays during the demolition.
“It’s a necessary evil,” he said. “The bridge will not handle six lanes of traffic underneath it.” He added the new bridge will include sidewalks and aesthetic upgrades. “We understand it’s a heartache, a headache,” he said. “But please slow down, put the phone down.”
Emergency access concerns
In response to community concern about lack of access for emergency vehicles, Gander said MoDOT has been working with emergency services, including EMS, to maintain operational standards.
The United States Exercise Tiger Commemorative Foundation, an organization which advocates for veterans and the local community, raised residents’ concerns about the closure. Walt Domanski, assistant director of the organization, said he is wary of delayed response times.
“The issue is a concern of ours,” said Susan Haines, the foundation’s director. “There’s red flags flying with this situation.”
The foundation will hold a public press conference to discuss a possible solution to enable emergency vehicles to respond quicker. It will be held at noon Friday in the Phillips 66 parking lot, 5495 E. St Charles Road.
Columbia Fire Chief Brian Schaeffer said the bridge closure will not severely impact response times.
“The fire department staff and the Missouri DOT have been collaborating for well over a year on this construction project,” Schaeffer said. “We’ve been making calculations and running scenarios to determine the impact of the closure.”
Schaeffer, who has served as the fire chief since 2024, implied that closures such as this one are routine and accounted for by the department.
“We’re used to closures like this occurring really frequently,” he said. “So we’re used to constantly finding impacts to our responses that can vary, even multiple times a day.”
Schaeffer presented data that showed a majority of the 911 calls out of the area impacted by the bridge closure are traffic related, not emergencies at homes. “I appreciate people asking the question, but really, it’s no different than what we’ve seen in prior construction projects, and no different moving into the future of the additional ones we’re expecting to have,” he said.
Construction of the new overpass bridge is expected to last five months, through the end of September, according to MoDOT. During this time, a new fire station, Station 10, is expected to open in May. The new station will be located at Route WW and El Chaparral Avenue. The opening of the station will help to address response time logistics and will create a southern access point to the neighborhoods affected by the closure.
