Osage Beach seeks citizen input for possible parkway extension

OSAGE BEACH, Mo. — The City of Osage Beach is deliberating a project that would cost more than a million dollars and would extend Osage Beach Parkway/Business 54 westward to join Y Road. And city leadership wants to know what the community thinks about it.

The city has requested that citizens contact their respective aldermen by e-mail, phone, or in person, prior to the board's July 25 meeting.

The following clarification of the potential project's scope and the city's financial obligation is taken from a submitted letter by Mayor Penny Lyons:

An extension of Osage Beach Parkway/Business 54 by constructing a two-lane outer road to the Y Road interchange would allow for safer ingress/egress to existing businesses currently accessed directly from the 54 Expressway. An outer road, according to the Highway Crash Location Manual, provides a 40 percent reduction in accidents. An extension to the Y Road interchange would also provide safer westbound access to Camdenton. People continue to do u-turns and go against traffic to go west.
The removal of a dead end is projected to provide a 20 percent increase in traffic on the west end.
The City would gain a seventh interchange and have an area for signage to promote access to the community.
Timing is critical to the funding of this project. MoDOT has proposed a cost share with the City where the City would only be responsible for one-third of the cost (estimated at $1,167,000) for over one mile of two-lane road with right-of-way for utilities. The city could fund this in 2014 without deferring any pending projects.
The bottom line is that the City would have a $3,500,000 newly annexed road connected to a multi-million dollar interchange for a $1,167,000 investment.