Bids for work at Center Junction could be accepted starting in November

Pending approval by state highway officials in Jefferson City, Missouri, the final plans for the reconstruction of the Interstate 55/U.S. 61 interchange between Cape Girardeau and Jackson will be advertised for bids in early November.

“We’re submitting plans to our central office later this week,” said Jason Williams of the Missouri Department of Transportation district office in Sikeston. Williams is managing the two-year construction project that will include new northbound and southbound interstate bridges over U.S. 61 and construction of a diverging diamond interchange in an area commonly referred to as Center Junction.

The new interstate spans will be several hundred feet shorter than the existing bridges and will be wide enough to accommodate an additional lane of traffic in both directions. They will also be more earthquake resistant than the current bridges that have been in place since that section of I-55 opened in the 1960s.

MoDOT is tentatively scheduled to advertise for project bids Nov. 7 and open bids Dec. 13.

“Bids will either be accepted or rejected at the Missouri Highway Commission meeting on Jan. 9,” Williams said.

Motorists traverse U.S. 61, below, as traffic moves along Interstate 55 overhead July 2 at Center Junction between Cape Girardeau and Jackson.Southeast Missourian file

This will be the second time MoDOT has gone through the bidding process for the Center Junction project. Bids were rejected in the spring when they exceeded estimated costs by several million dollars. As a result, MoDOT redesigned the project in hopes of reducing costs while still keeping U.S. 61 open throughout the project timeline.

“As long as a bid is approved and a contract is awarded, MoDOT will issue a notice to proceed around the first week in February,” Williams said.

Depending on weather, Williams said its possible construction could start as early as March. At some point during the construction process, probably in the spring or early summer of 2020, the interstate exit and entrance ramps on the north side of Center Junction will be closed for approximately seven months while construction crews work on the diverging diamond interchange. While the ramps are closed, motorists will need to find alternate routes on and off the interstate such as the interchange at mile marker 102.

Williams said MoDOT is adding language to the contract specifications to incentivize the project contractor to minimize the time the southbound ramp off of I-55 onto U.S. 61 is closed. In addition, he said the contract will include a “milestone” date of Dec. 1, 2020, for when the interstate ramps should be reopened.

The entire project is scheduled for completion by November 2021.