A trio of federal grants will help fund repairs to a pair of center city bridges and environmental cleanup efforts in Springfield.
The Springfield City Council voted to accept the grants, which add up to nearly $4 million, on July 8.
While all three originate from the federal government, two of the grants were awarded by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for the maintenance and rehabilitation of the Grant Avenue viaduct and the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge. They add to about $3 million.
The third grant, a flat $1 million from the Environmental Protection Agency, will provide additional loans and sub-grants for environmental cleanups in Springfield.
Brownfields grant to bolster program funding
First announced by the EPA on May 20, Springfield was selected to receive $1 million for the city’s Brownfields Revolving Loan Fund program, in addition to the $3,060,000 in EPA funds already awarded.
The funding comes from $1.5 billion earmarked for brownfields sites in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act of 2021, commonly known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Springfield’s program is administered by the city’s Department of Economic Vitality and provides low-interest loans to private parties and sub-grants to nonprofits for environmental remediation at eligible brownfields sites. The funds can be used for asbestos and lead paint abatement, soil and groundwater cleanup and insurance costs, among other activities. The program has funded 14 cleanup projects that are either completed or are in progress, according to the EPA.
“This substantive, supplemental Revolving Loan Funding will allow the city to continue to provide EPA-funded loans and sub-grants to our community and ensure contaminated sites that threaten the health and well-being of our citizens continue to be remediated and put back into useful service,” Amanda Ohlensehlen, Springfield Director of Economic Vitality said in a May 20 news release from the EPA.
Bridges bordering downtown in line for repairs
The largest of the three grants, providing up to $2,022,339, will fund repairs to the Grant Avenue Viaduct, which stretches over the Jordan Creek, a BNSF Railway line, Wall Street and Phelps Street on the west side of downtown Springfield.
Built in 1927 and rehabilitated in 1978, the viaduct is one of the longest city government-maintained bridges in Springfield, according to Eric Claussen, assistant director of operations of the Public Works Department.
Claussen told city council members that that Public Works staff is working through details with the law department to provide right-of-way access to incorporate public art on the underside of the bridge.
The projects includes repairs to the surface and substructure of the bridge, an overlay sealant and the replacement of expansion joints, which hold parts of the bridge together. Bids are expected to open in March 2026, according to city council documents.
On the east side of downtown, the Martin Luther King Jr. Bridge is also in line for repairs. The bridge connects Kimbrough Avenue and Benton Avenue. The project includes an overlay and the replacement of expansion joints. The city was awarded $935,284 for the project, which is also set to go out for bid in March 2026.
Program agreements with the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission require the city to cover 20% of the cost of each bridge project, estimated at $505,585 and $233,821, respectively.
Both projects are expected to preserve the bridges for 20-25 years, according to Claussen.
