JACKSON FOOTBRIDGE OPEN: PEDESTRIAN BRIDGE OPEN TO PRIMARY ACCESS

JACKSON, Mo. -- The ribbon will be cut this morning on a new pedestrian bridge many people will use to get to Jackson High School football games.

The bridge at the corner of Jefferson and Colorado streets replaces a swinging bridge that was torn down a few years ago after it deteriorated. The Missouri Department of Transportation paid 80 percent of the cost of the $50,000 bridge, with the City of Jackson making up the rest.

The bridge serves as a pedestrian route from the high school and Primary Annex to the west side of town.

Mayor Paul Sander said the city decided to replace the bridge even though pedestrians can use a traffic bridge two blocks away on Adams Street to reach the same destinations. "We felt it would be safer for the kids to walk directly from the annex. They wouldn't have to walk close to a busy street," Sander said.

The custom-ordered steel bridge is 110 feet long, 5 feet wide and has a wooden floor.