Repairs to Start on Buck O’Neil Bridge

On Saturday, May 19th, as part of the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT) project, Clarkson Construction Company will begin bridge rehabilitation work on the Buck O’Neil Bridge, which spans the Missouri River and provides a critical commuter connection from Downtown Kansas City, Missouri to the “Northland.”

The Buck O’Neil Bridge is more than 60 years old and sees, on average, about 40,000 vehicles each work day. Clarkson Construction Company is no stranger to bridge work in Kansas City, as they have constructed more than 800 bridges throughout the Midwest region, including the Grandview Triangle and Bond Bridge.

The work will include repairing cables, railing and expansion joints on the structure.

The short-term repair work is expected to be completed by December of 2018 (weather and other variables permitting).

What can the traveling public expect during repairs?:

• The bridge will always remain open to northbound traffic.
• One lane of Route 169 will remain open south of Route 9 to allow access to the Charles B. Wheeler Downtown Airport. All traffic using this lane will be forced off at the southbound Richards Road exit.
• Southbound traffic will be detoured the following ways:
• From I-29: to southbound I-35 and across the Christopher “Kit” Bond Bridge.
• From Route 69, south of I-29: to southbound Route 9 and across the Heart of America Bridge.

Photo: Keith Myers kmyers@kcstar.com