The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

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October 12, 2009

Opening of Neosho overpass draws near

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.

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