TRAFFIC ALERT: James River Freeway sinkhole repairs start Saturday morning in Springfield

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (KY3) - MoDOT crews will start installing traffic control at 6:30 a.m. on Saturday to close all lanes of westbound Route 60 and ramps to westbound Route 60 for sinkhole repair work.

According to MoDOT, work on James River Freeway between U.S. Highway 65 and Glenstone Avenue will continue until Sept. 22.

The sinkhole initially formed back in August, which closed all westbound lanes of the James River Freeway.

Laurel McKean is the MoDOT assistant district engineer. She said that it’s time to take care of the sinkhole problem since it’s caused lots of issues over the past month. She gave some insight on what the repairs will consist of over the week.

“The solid rock contractor is going to start saw-cutting the road and digging the slope in the ditch because we just need to open up the area where the sinkhole was,” McKean said. “We can then start removing all the material to find solid rock so we can start our fix.”

McKean also said this is not the first sinkhole they’ve seen in the area and said the cause could be water under the road.

“We filled one up several years ago, and we think the water is just shifting then up the road, which then through our lovely limestone creates the voids and the gaps,” McKean said. “We’re hoping that this time, by going in with your plan of filling it with some deeper, bigger rocks and creating a channel for the water to go, we can fix this area for a while.”

According to MoDOT, traffic will be impacted in the following areas:

• Westbound U.S. Route 60 (James River Freeway) CLOSED between U.S. Route 65 and Glenstone Avenue in Springfield
• Northbound U.S. Route 65 to westbound U.S. Route 60 flyover ramp CLOSED
• Southbound U.S. Route 65 to westbound U.S. Route 60 ramp CLOSED
• Some of the alternate routes are listed below: Southbound Route 65 alternate routes: Battlefield Road, Sunshine Street, Chestnut Expressway Northbound Route 65 alternate routes: Christian County Route CC or Missouri Route 14 in Ozark to U.S. Route 160 in Nixa

You can check out more road closings and traffic impacts on MoDOT’s Traveler Information Map. The westbound lanes and ramps are expected to be open by Sept. 22 but could be delayed past that date.

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