EXPECT SLOW GOING AT FRUITLAND THIS WEEK

FRUITLAND -- Motorists traveling along Highway 61 in the vicinity of the Interstate 55/Fruitland interchange may have some 15-minute delays over the next three days.

New steel girders -- supports for the new overpass driving surface -- will be placed along the southbound lanes of Interstate 55, starting about 7 a.m. this morning.

Motorists are urged to use caution, said Bob Wilson, resident engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation.

"We'll be installing five girders," said Bob York, on-site construction inspector. "The 225-foot girders consist of three sections, and have to be bolted together. We don't allow traffic under the overpass while we're bolting them together.'

This will result in periodic 15-minute delays.

Work on installation of the girders will run from approximately 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. through Thursday.

The girders are a major milestone for the project, said Wilson.

The construction contract for the project was let in early July to Penzel Construction Co., Inc., at Jackson, in the amount of $3,295,745, and calls for replacing both existing I-55 overpass bridges over Route 61 at Fruitland.

The overpasses must be replaced to provide additional width needed to accommodate the expanded driving lanes that are planned for Route 61 beneath the interstate, aimed at improving traffic flow from I-55 to Route 177, in conjunction with the $350 million expansion of the local Procter & Gamble Paper Products plant. Completion of the project is anticipated late in the year 2000.

Interstate traffic is being diverted to the northbound lane.

Work on the overall project started in September 1999.

Following completion of the southbound overpass, girders will be installed for the northbound lanes, with interstate traffic moved to the new southbound bridge.

The second phase of the project will add a driving lane to Route 61 in both directions, expanding the road to five lanes from the northbound I-55 ramps to the intersection of Route 177. Also included is improvement of Route 61 to four lanes and two additional left-turn lanes at the I-55 overpass.

Several new traffic signals will be added at I-55 and Route 61 and on Route 61 at the 177 intersection and the Route W intersection.