Mindful of the recent rescission of federal funding for upgrading off-system bridges, the Phelps County Commission discussed Thursday the urgency of using accumulated funds to replace or rehabilitate some of the county’s smaller bridges.
District 2 Commissioner Bud Dean, who recently attended a MoDOT District 9 meeting in Willow Springs, said the state would like the accumulated BRO funds (Off-System Bridge Replacement and Rehabilitation Program) obligated as soon as possible.
Presently, Phelps County has accumulated $171,678 in BRO funds, which is not enough to fund a major bridge project in the 80/20 cost-share federal program. The county has traditionally allowed funds to accumulate throughout several years before expending a large portion of it on a large project, but the statewide rescission took $71,279 from its former balance.
The Commission reviewed several bridges in the county’s road system that might be eligible for BRO funding, including bridges on County roads 5240 and 3000, the Spring Creek Bridge on County Road 8410 and the Vida Bridge on County Road 7460.
“If BRO money goes away, we’re going to need a long-term strategy of being able to maintain our bridges,” Commissioner Larry Stratman, District 1, said.
Dean advised the Commission some of the rules pertaining to BRO funding had changed. Counties must now post a notice on MoDOT’s Web site detailing they are seeking engineers with appropriate qualifications, and the notice must be posted at least two weeks.
Moreover, the county must identify the project and select an engineer before negotiating a contract. The interview-selection process must also incorporate a formal scoring process, Dean said.
The Commission agreed it would invite MoDOT’s South Central District Design Liason Richard Pilcher to tour the bridges and offer a recommendation of the one best suited for a BRO project.
The recent rescission of BRO funding cost the state a total of $17 million in funding for off-site bridges.
