Three years after closing U.S. Route 3 between Roanoke and Highway 24 in Randolph County, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is preparing for a road realignment project. A section of the road was closed on March 15, 2021, when engineers determined it could slide away due to the oversaturated ground near a rock quarry.

“We have worked through the right-of-way process with the project currently on schedule to go out for bid in the August letting. Bids will be presented to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for action at the September 7 meeting,” Northeast District Engineer Paula Gough said in a press release last week.

The decision was made in 2021 to close the road indefinitely when a significant slide caused unstable soil conditions in the area. HNTB has conducted the necessary environmental evaluation to determine a viable design solution. This included a review of soil conditions, slopes of the quarry pits on either side of Route 3, and the excavated caves below this area. The proposed work would involve shifting the road to the west by 15 to 30 feet and lowering it by 10 to 15 feet to ensure a favorable location.

Gough said in May that MoDOT had hoped to have the project under contract by this summer. “We are still in the process of acquiring the necessary right of way. Assuming we are able to complete the right-of-way process during the next several months, we anticipate having the project under contract by the end of 2023,” she said at the time.

MoDOT’s website indicates the project could be under contract by the end of this year, with construction to begin sometime in 2024.

Route 3 is a major artery between Howard County and the Randolph County towns of Huntsville and Moberly. Since the closure, motorists have had to travel along various rural blacktops, which are not designed for heavy traffic.