Lake Of The Ozarks Toll Bridge On Track For 2026 Payoff, And Then It Will Be Free

Not very many years ago — in the early 1990s — the area of the Lake that is now known as Porto Cima and The Villages at Shawnee Bend was miles and miles of vacant shoreline. That's all changed now, thanks to the Lake of the Ozarks Community Bridge... commonly known as "the toll bridge."

While paying a toll elicits more than its fair share of grumbles, anyone who’s taken the bridge knows: it turns what would have been a 30 to 60-mile drive (depending on your destination) into only about 10 miles.

And bridge management says the bridge will be free to cross in just a few years.

The organization that manages the bridge is called the Lake of the Ozarks Community Bridge Transportation Development District (TDD). The Treasurer and Vice-President of that organization is Joe Roeger. Roeger acknowledges the skepticism some in the Lake community have expressed about the toll bridge ever being paid off. But he says the district is confident the payoff date for the bridge's bonds is only a few years out. The bridge will be paid off in 2026, according to the district's current projections.

The original payoff date was set for 2026. Roeger points out a bond refinancing actually bought the district more time, if it were needed. But he says it isn't. District board members are ready to wrap it up and celebrate the win, Roeger told LakeExpo.

Once the bonds are repaid, the district will repay any other liabilities. One of the main ones is the pre-paid toll cards. Roeger emphasized when the bridge is paid-off, pre-paid toll cardholders will be refunded the balance of their card.

Then, the board will close down the TDD, and hand off the bridge to MoDOT. Roeger emphasized MoDOT cannot (per the Missouri constitution) charge a toll on the bridge: in other words, when the bridge is paid off, drivers will be able to cross it for free.

When the bridge first opened, the toll was $2.50 during the busy season, and $1.50 in the offseason, with higher rates for larger vehicles. Now the toll is $3 in-season and $2 the rest of the year. (For comparison, the old Hurricane Deck Bridge toll was 40¢ when it opened in 1936… that’s about $8.50 in today’s dollars.)

Since the year 2000, more than 1 million vehicles per year have used the bridge to access a part of the Lake that would have been not technically inaccessible, but hardly worth driving to. Now, Lake area residents and visitors cross the toll bridge as an everyday activity — for getting groceries, visiting friends, playing a round of golf, or working on one of the many construction projects, as Shawnee Bend continues to grow.

**This article is an excerpt from the upcoming issue of Shore Magazine 2023. Order your copy in time for the holidays, or find Shore on racks across the Lake area and at regional boat shows in 2023.

Order online: ShoreBoatingMag.com.