Officials say Gene Field Road bridge will open 18 months ahead of schedule following replacement
EDITOR'S NOTE: This story previously reported that the Gene Field Road Bridge would open following the ribbon-cutting. The bridge is currently not scheduled to open until Tuesday, June 30 at the earliest, due to weather conditions.
ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (KQTV)-- A ribbon-cutting was held on the Gene Field Road Bridge Friday to celebrate the completion of the project.
Marty Liles, district engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation's Northwest District, said finishing the project 18 months ahead of schedule was a testament to the teamwork and support from the City of St. Joseph.
“It was one of the unfortunate incidents that happened with the bridge. We had it under construction for a completion in December of 2027, and unfortunately, we had a superload that came through and damaged it,” he said.
Despite that setback, Liles said he's proud of the team for completing the project well ahead of schedule.
While the ribbon-cutting was hosted on Friday, the bridge will not actually reopen until Tuesday, June 30 at the earliest.
The bridge, which was struck by an oversized haul on a semi, was already scheduled for repairs. MoDOT said the repairs were originally scheduled to be completed in December 2027.
Liles acknowledged that closing the bridge created significant traffic problems, something city officials expected from the start.
“We have seen traffic flows in the city and other cities streets and through Federick that we adjusted the timing but there’s still congestion,” Liles said.
Despite the delays, Liles said he appreciates the public's patience as crews worked to complete the project.
He said reaching this point is especially rewarding because of everything that had to come together behind the scenes.
“The plans has to be done but even with that once you get the bridge plans done and you get awarded there’s a lot of materials and things that had to be fabricated and being delivered here,” he added.
Liles added that he was pleased the project wrapped up before the Kansas City Chiefs' training camp, which officials identified early on as an important deadline.
They worked to speed up construction to minimize disruptions before traffic increases during Chief camp.
“Doing this and getting this done now really kind of helps us to have traffic flows in other places for impacts to go instead of sitting in just one place,” Liles said.
With the bridge project complete, Liles said the city can now turn its attention to other bridges and infrastructure projects that also need work.
