WARRENSBURG, Mo. - Two state highway bridges in Johnson County will be closed soon so that contractors can replace decks and reopen the routes as soon as possible as part of MoDOT's Safe & Sound bridge repair program.

Repairs to the Route OO bridge over Honey Creek are scheduled to begin Monday, April 13 and reopen by May 5. The bridge will be closed during that time. Detours will be posted for local traffic.

Repairs to the Route ZZ bridge over Panther Creek near LaTour will close the bridge between April 30 and May 22.

Detours for both of these projects can be found on the MoDOT Website by going to http://www.modot.org/kansascity/QuickStartList.htm and clicking on the Johnson County detours.

These two bridges are among 18 in Johnson County and more than 800 throughout Missouri to be repaired or replaced in the next five years through MoDOT's Safe & Sound bridge program. Closing these bridges lets the contractor complete the work quickly and get the bridges back open faster. It also keeps costs down, saving your taxpayer money.

Full closures reduce cost by minimizing the need for additional right of way and for costly roadway work. Every bridge that's closed during construction allows us to work on another bridge in need of attention.

There are 10,276 bridges in the Missouri state highway system - 7th largest total nationwide. Approximately 1,100 of them are in poor/serious condition. The Safe & Sound Initiative will address most of these ailing bridges.