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Council urges county to keep Old Highway 100 open, discusses sending formal letter
Summary
Councilmembers raised safety and access concerns over Franklin County's consideration of closing Old Highway 100 and discussed drafting a letter asking the county to keep the road and proceed with bridge repairs; no formal vote recorded.
Washington City Council members spent an extended portion of the Aug. 18 meeting urging Franklin County not to close Old Highway 100 and asking the city to send a formal letter requesting the road remain open and that needed bridge repairs proceed.
Council members said Old Highway 100 serves as a secondary artery for the city, provides an alternative route for buses and parents to reach South Pointe School, and would complicate emergency routing if closed. Speakers also said previous studies and MoDOT funding were intended for repairs and argued that county officials should not reassign those funds without federal/state coordination.
No formal motion to adopt or send a letter was recorded in the meeting minutes; council members discussed drafting a letter to the county and noted the Washington Area Transportation Committee was likely to raise similar concerns. Several councilmembers said they expected the county commissioners to discuss the matter at an upcoming meeting.
Why it matters: closing Old Highway 100 could affect school access, emergency response routing and growth patterns for parts of Washington. Council members described potential traffic and safety effects if the bridge were not repaired or if the road were closed.
The record shows discussion and apparent consensus to prepare a written request to the county, but the meeting transcript does not record a formal, binding vote on that letter.
