MISSOURI — Missouri has 10,384 bridges, the sixth most in the nation. More than 900 of those bridges are in poor condition and 1,131 are weight restricted. Four hundred and thirteen bridges fall into both categories.

Gov. Mike Parson recognized the need for additional funding for infrastructure projects in the state and in January 2019 put forth a proposal to repair or replace hundreds of the state’s worst bridges.

As passed by the 2019 General Assembly and signed by the Governor, $50 million was appropriated from State General Revenue to replace or repair 45 bridges in Fiscal Year 2020. In July, MoDOT received an $81.2 million INFRA Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation that will facilitate the construction of a new I-70 Missouri River Bridge at Rocheport and I-70 climbing lanes at Mineola Hill in Montgomery County – two significant improvements to the I-70 freight corridor. The grant will also trigger a $301 million bonding program, authorized by the legislature in the 2019 session and to be repaid over seven years from State General Revenue, that will repair or replace an additional 215 bridges across the state – freeing up $301 million from the current Statewide Transportation Improvement Program for new transportation improvement projects

Not only will this program enable the state to fix hundreds of poor bridges throughout the state, it will also deliver additional high-priority transportation projects statewide using the funding already dedicated to these bridges.