MoDOT announces completion date for James River roundabout project

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) -Drivers using the James River Freeway in southeast Springfield must wait a few more weeks for construction to finish.

MoDOT representatives say the James River roundabout was scheduled to be completed by May. Engineers say the recent rain led to delays.

“It’s delayed a little bit of the paving operations, and now that we’re hopefully catching a break, we’re trying to play catch up,” said MoDOT Engineer Brad Gripka. “We’re going to be finishing up the rest of the month of June as doing our paving operations and finishing out that project.”

Before the project finishes, crews need to complete paving on James River Freeway before they can start paving Glenstone and Republic Road. The contractor is currently working on some of the finishing touches on the roundabout. Once that is done, the roundabout will be shut down for a day or two for paving and surfacing.

The contractor is working on the final details of the roundabout. Then it will be closed to traffic for a few days for paving and surfacing. Drivers can expect to see some closures and delays as this project gets closer.

“There’ll be some lane closures during nighttime hours,” said Gripka. “There will be impacts to the traveling public during those nighttime hours of 7 pm to 6 am on James River, and then once we get the paving operations on James River completed, we’ll start pulling that barrier wall and opening things up to help relieve that traffic congestion, especially going eastbound.”

MODOT officials say the new completion date is July 1 but that all depends on the weather.

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