Taneycomo Bridge Roundabout hits dead end
MoDOT makes offer to share cost, but project cost still too high
The proposed roundabout on the south end of the Highway 76 Lake Taneycomo Bridge will not happen even with the latest offer from MoDOT to share the cost, according to Branson city officials and the Taney County Commission.
According to Branson City Engineer David Miller, when the design engineering company estimated the price tag of the roundabout project, their cost came in around the $800,000 range. The city and county used that figure as the basis of an agreement to share the cost of construction. However, when actual construction bids for the roundabout were opened in November, the low bid was $3.2 million. Both city and county officials decided then not to pursue the project and didn’t award a bid due to the significant increase in the cost.
Recently, MoDOT came back to the city and county offering to contribute nearly $1.5 million towards the $3.2 million cost. MoDOT officials said the state had funds available that were well suited for a project of this type that involves the intersection of two state-owned routes and not any city or county owned streets. But again, neither the Taney County Commissioners nor the city of Branson, after considering the offer from MoDOT, were able to identify the additional funding that would be needed to match the state’s contribution.
The roundabout would have provided relief for the daily traffic congestion at the signalized intersection of East Highway 76 and Business 65 in Hollister.
The city and county had earlier recognized that a majority of the drivers being negatively impacted by the congestion caused by the intersection are eastern county residents that have to use this route for access to their jobs.
MoDOT officials have said they have no plans to widen the Taneycomo Bridge or build another bridge across the lake for at least eight years.
