Groundbreaking for Hwy. 65 widening project set for Monday

The state Department of Transportation is breaking ground Monday on a project that will expand U.S. Highway 65 to five lanes through Lincoln.

The $3.8 million project will widen the highway starting about two miles south of state Route HH and extending south to about state Route H, just south of Lincoln.

When the project is completed, U.S Highway 65 will be expanded to five lanes through Lincoln, comprising two southbound lanes, two northbound lanes and a center turning lane.

Lehman Construction, based in California, Mo., submitted the lowest bid at $3,792,184 and received the contract for the project in September. Construction is expected to begin shortly after the groundbreaking Monday and is projected to be completed in fall of 2010.

“We are very excited about the improvements,” Project Manager Nicole Hood said. “This project will improve capacity of Route 65 and increase safety for motorists who travel through Lincoln.”

Hood said the portion of the highway near Lincoln is just the first phase of MoDOT’s plans to add lanes to the U.S. Highway 65 in Benton County.

MoDOT engineers have already started working on designs for the second and third phases of the project, which will expand portions of U.S. Highway 65 to four lanes both north and south of Lincoln. When those phases of the project are completed in late 2012, the highway will be a four lane, divided roadway through the entire stretch from Sedalia to Warsaw.

The second and third phase, divided between the north and south sides of Lincoln, will be bid out in combination in May, Hood said. The expansion of the highway is designed to accommodate the busy traffic between Sedalia and Warsaw, she said.

“There’s a lot of vehicles traveling that roadway daily. This project will add capacity along the highway down to Warsaw and make it safer,” Hood said.

Officials from MoDOT, Lincoln and Benton County officials will kick off construction with a groundbreaking ceremony at 11 a.m. Monday at the MoDOT maintenance facility in Lincoln. A reception will follow the ceremony, which is open to the public.