Jackson will open East Main; rain delays interchange work

The recent wet weather will push back the opening of the new East Main Street/LaSalle Avenue interchange, but the ribbon cutting ceremony will continue as planned Monday, Jackson Mayor Barbara Lohr said.

The project contractor, Dumey Contracting Inc., is still ahead of schedule in working on the project, MoDOT personnel have said.

The possibility existed that, with good weather, the interchange would be open for Monday's ribbon cutting. But Lohr said MoDOT has now assured her that won't be the case.

Lohr had hoped to be the first to drive on the new interchange Monday.

"We'll still have a good time, we'll still open Main Street, and we'll be able to get all the way through Main Street ... then unfortunately we'll have to turn around and come back through Main Street," Lohr said.

Jackson's ribbon cutting for East Main Street will happen at 10 a.m. Monday, while MoDOT's dedication of the interchange is slated for 11 a.m.

Two lanes of traffic are now open in the interchange project area on both sides of the interstate.

Recently, MoDOT project engineer Darius Dowdy suggested the interchange could be open by the end of the year, if good weather continued.

But the recent rains have "definitely delayed the progress," he said.

The remaining work includes adding striping, signs, guard rails, dirt work, seeding and mulching, which adds up to more than three weeks of work.

"They just can't get to it in this weather," he said.

msanders@semissourian.com

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