Efforts to build a bridge to improve riverfront access in Jefferson City have hit a stumbling block.
The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports that the Missouri Department of Transportation has determined that the city is ineligible for a $400,000 federal grant.
The city hoped to use the money to help pay for the nearly $3 million project to develop the 30-acre Adrian's Island peninsula. Plans call for a nearly 830-foot bridge that would offer seven overlooks of the Capitol and the riverfront.
All is not lost without the grant. Donor B.J. DeLong has pledged $1 million for the project.
But city engineer David Bange said the federal grant was pivotal to the city establishing a green light status for the Adrian's Island project, legitimizing a final private fundraising campaign.