KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Fairfax Bridge, which carries the southbound lanes of Route 69 from Missouri into Kansas, will close for repairs following the Wednesday, March 14 morning rush hour.

Missouri Department of Transportation crews will close the bridge at approximately 9 a.m., and set up a detour to divert traffic headed for the Fairfax District in Kansas City, Kan., to the nearby Interstate 635 bridge and then east on Kansas Route 5. Electronic message boards and other signage will help direct traffic through the detour. Repairs to the 72-year-old bridge are expected to take about three weeks. The structure carries 7,500 vehicles per day.

MoDOT closed the bridge's right lane and diverted truck traffic to the I-635 bridge on March 8 after a routine inspection revealed that cracks had developed on some vertical sections of the deck truss span

"The repairs will require placing equipment in the center of the bridge, so crews can erect scaffolding and have room to maneuver while the work is completed," said Chris Redline, Assistant District Engineer in Kansas City. "Our crews plan to handle the work themselves, and we estimate that the repairs will take three weeks."

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