Bridge study could start in March
The start of an environmental study for eventual replacement of the Chester Bridge appears to be inching closer to becoming a reality.
Missouri Department of Transportation engineer Jason Williams, who is overseeing the project, told the Herald Tribune in an email last Thursday that that the study could begin in early March.
"We are very close to finalizing the agreement," Williams wrote. "We use a qualifications based selection (QBS) process, as required by state and federal regulations, to select a consultant for this type of study.
"That process focuses solely on hiring the best-qualified candidate - price discussions are not allowed - which means this is not a low bid scenario."
As has been previously reported by the newspaper, MoDOT has selected the St. Louis office of CH2M to perform the study, a company MoDOT has done business with before.
"So what we have been working on over the past month (or so) is negotiating a fee schedule with CH2M, a tedious process," Williams said. "The fee schedule establishes the baseline for all costs charged to MoDOT for the study."
Williams said examples of those costs would include hourly labor, community outreach publications and preparing the preliminary and final environmental documents.
"The next and final step involves MoDOT's and CH2M's legal counsels reviewing the contract, then our highway commission approving and executing the contract," he said. "At that point, CH2M is free to begin the study, which I would anticipate to start in early March."
The next meeting of the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission is scheduled for March 8 at MoDOT's Central Office in Jefferson City.
MoDOT selected CH2M, which has its headquarters in Meridian, Colo., last fall. The environmental study will reportedly show MoDOT the best place to construct the new bridge, along with alternate locations.
Other agencies such as the Coast Guard, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will also weigh in during the roughly 24-month process.
"That's the point of this study, we don't know where the bridge is going," Williams told the Herald Tribune back in November. "We need to determine from this study where the best spot would be for the bridge.
"There's different things to consider and that's what this study will do. You have to weigh each one of those and see which is the most desirable place to put this structure."
The 75-year-old Chester Bridge is the only Mississippi River crossing between the Jefferson Barracks Bridge on the south side of St. Louis and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge in Cape Girardeau.