Opening of Neosho overpass draws near

Local News

Discussion

October 12, 2009

Anonymous The Joplin Globe Mon Oct 12, 2009, 09:15 PM CDT

By Derek Spellman

dspellman@joplinglobe.com

NEOSHO, Mo. — More than 50 years after an improved South Street was suggested as an east-west corridor through Neosho, residents should see that idea realized next week.

City officials said Monday that a tentative ribbon-cutting ceremony has been set for Oct. 23, weather permitting, for the completion of the South Street railroad overpass and accompanying roundabout.

It was back in the late 1950s that some looked at South Street as a road to directly link east and west Neosho.

“The original concept came up in a comprehensive plan from 1957 to 1958,” said Mayor Jeff Werneke.

In past years, the city tried to save up money for an overpass, although those savings were outstripped by the rising cost of construction. A permanent increase in the city’s street tax was proposed in 2004, with a portion of those proceeds eyed for construction of the overpass, but voters defeated that proposal at the polls.

In April 2007, voters approved a one-eighth-cent sales tax to pay off $3.5 million in bonds to finance four transportation projects, including the South Street overpass.

But the completion of South Street also figured into a controversial decision by the City Council earlier this year to close several railroad crossings to vehicular traffic. Plans to close crossings at Park Street and Daugherty Road drew protests from a number of residents, who said the plan would curb east-side residents’ access to the western part of the town despite construction of the South Street overpass.

City officials said the crossings needed to be closed for safety reasons, but they said the overpass would help with east-west access. They also said those crossings will not be closed until after the overpass was finished.

City Manager Jan Blase said Monday that those crossings will not be closed until next year.

“That wouldn’t happen until April or May of next year,” he said.

The closing of the two crossings does have a financial aspect for the city. The state and the railroad company would provide a total of about $345,000 to the city to defray its share of the costs. Officials have hoped that the city could do some of the work on its own, leaving a chunk of that money to go toward the South Street overpass project, the cost of which came in at $500,000 more than originally forecast. The city ultimately approved a bid of $2.3 million for the work.

The city already has signed agreements with MoDOT and the railroad to go ahead and close the crossings, although the city council last month decided to inquire if the crossings could be improved as opposed to closed. Barring new information, though, the crossings will still be closed, city officials said.

Rhonda Warren, who lives on John Place in Neosho and presented a petition with hundreds of signatures opposing the closing of Daugherty, told the Globe on Monday that she still sees closing Daugherty as an inconvenience for hundreds of families.

She also reiterated that the city should have done traffic studies after the overpass was complete to determine which roads were most used before deciding whether to close them.

Werneke acknowledged that South Street likely would not resolve everyone’s concerns, although he said it would help with traffic flow in that area.

“I don’t expect everyone to be completely happy after it opens, but I think it will help,” he said.

Text Only

Local News

Water company cites reconnections
The May 22 tornado has caused a dramatic drop in water usage for the Missouri American Water Co., but things are starting to turn around — one reconnection at a time.

February 10, 2012 1 Photo
Survivor of ’78 Connor collapse dead at age 64
A big story in the history of Joplin was the 1978 collapse of the Connor Hotel at Fourth and Main streets. Alfred Summers, the man at the heart of that story, died at 6:41 a.m. Friday at St. John’s Mercy Hospital in Joplin after an illness. He was 64.

February 10, 2012
County asks for dismissal of sheriff’s suit
The Jasper County Commission is the final authority in budget allocations, including those from the county’s Law Enforcement Sales Tax fund, county lawyers have argued in a motion recently filed in Jasper County Circuit Court.

February 10, 2012
Winter weather back in forecast
The arctic front that passed over Missouri on Friday will bring cold temperatures to the region tonight.

February 10, 2012
Weather service upgrading radar at Springfield station
The National Weather Service radar station at Springfield will be out of service for about two weeks to permit the installation of dual-polarization technology.

February 10, 2012
MSSU, PSU to conduct financial-aid events
Missouri Southern State University in Joplin and Pittsburg (Kan.) State University each will conduct events Sunday to help high school seniors with completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid.

February 10, 2012
Authorities term deaths of teens murder-suicide
Authorities say a teenage woman apparently shot her estranged boyfriend several times before turning the gun on herself and taking her own life.

February 10, 2012
Mike Pound: One man in America wants his robo call
I like to think I have pretty thick skin. If I didn’t, all the emails I get with the subject lines that read “Hey moron” would bother me. But they don’t, so I do.

February 10, 2012
Proposed Kan. abortion ban blocked by abortion foe
An influential anti-abortion legislator is blocking the push for a ban on abortion in the Kansas Constitution, highlighting a split among abortion opponents over tactics and frustrating the group advocating the “personhood” proposal Friday.

February 10, 2012
Kansas House GOP issues tax plan
House Republican leaders are proposing a plan to cut Kansas income taxes, removing one key objection to an earlier proposal from Gov. Sam Brownback.

February 10, 2012
More Local News Headlines

Water company cites reconnections

Local News

Search Results

Discussion

Opening of Neosho overpass draws near

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr wants the city to distribute weather radios to all Joplin homes that don’t have one. That’s 11,000 radios. Do you think that’s a good use of $300,440?

Site Map

Contact Us