BRANSON MO NEWS: A main road in Branson will now be under the city’s ownership, as first and final readings of a bill was approved by aldermen Tuesday.
City officials worked with the Missouri Department of Transportation on the idea for months, according to City Engineer David Miller. He said the city decided to take ownership in order to make necessary improvements in the 76 Complete Street project. Some improvements, such as underground utilities, were prohibited by MoDOT rules.
“The concepts and vision of the Highway 76 revitalization project include a lot of unique design elements,” Miller said.
Although the city has been working well with MoDOT, Miller said MoDOT has restrictions on the amount of innovative features that can be done to 76 due to state regulations and policies, which would increase project costs.
“If the highway was a city street, (we would) do the same safety rules, the same ADA accessibility, but we would have much more ability to be creative in the aspects that we allow,” Miller said.
Branson will have ownership of 76 for 20 years according to Miller, during which the city will also acquire long-term maintenance costs. Since MoDOT will no longer endure those costs, the city would save the …
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