Highway 95 bridge repair now set for Sept. 19

The date for closing the Route 95 bridge over the Little North Fork of the White River in Thornfield has been rescheduled and now will be closed for two months beginning Sept. 19, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced Tuesday. The original closing date was Sept. 12.
A public meeting to provide information about the project and how traffic was held Aug. 25 in the Thornfield School gym.
The new bridge on Route 95 was originally scheduled to reopen to traffic by Nov. 13. It is not known if postponing the project's start will affect the completion date.
The Ozark County bridge project is part of MoDOT's Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement program that will replace or repair 802 bridges across Missouri by the end of 2013. Another bridge in Ozark County on Route OO south of Ocie is scheduled to be replaced this year with the road closed from Oct. 3 to Dec. 15 as that bridge is replaced.

Preparing for Route 95 Closing

State highway traffic normally is not detoured onto county-maintained roads, according to the MoDOT announcement, so signs will direct drivers to use Highways 5 and 160 as a detour. However, local drivers familiar with the area will most likely use nearby county roads to bypass the closed bridge. Ozark County eastern commissioner Greg Donley said the best choices for detouring around the Route 95 bridge will be to use Route JJ to CR 922 to north Route D as a northern route or, for a southern route, to connect with CRs 844 to 855 to south Route D. See the map adjoining this story.
Law enforcement and other emergency agencies, the post office and school district have been notified so they can adjust their responses and routes through the area.
The existing Route 95 bridge over Little North Fork River in Thornfield was built in 1932. The old bridge will be replaced with a new, pre-cast concrete box-beam structure.

Highway 95 detour map