The Missouri Department of Transportation is expecting to open the new bridges over Highway 50 at Chipman Road this Friday, August 12, moving the project one step closer to completion.

MoDOT will be shifting traffic from the on and off ramps at Chipman Road to the new Highway 50 bridges this Friday. Work will begin Friday morning at 6:00 AM CDT when crews will close the ramp from eastbound Interstate 470 to eastbound Highway 50 to shift traffic back onto the Highway 50 bridge.

Once complete, crews will move to the westbound side of the highway. Motorists should expect rolling slowdowns during this time as crews will be working on re-striping the roadway. MoDOT expects this work to be complete by 6:00 PM CDT on Friday, August 12.

While work on the bridges over Highway 50 is complete, that isn't the end of the roadwork in the area of Highway 50 at Chipman Road. Chipman Road will remain closed between Murray Road and Blue Parkway until the project is complete, "later this summer" according to MoDOT.

The completion of the bridges moves the project into phase 3 which includes roadway resurfacing and ADA improvements at Chipman Road. With Chipman Road continuing to be closed, motorists will not be able to turn left off of Highway 50's Chipman Road ramps, however right turns will still be permitted.

So what does all of this mean? If you're going over Chipman Road on Highway 50 your drive will be a little bit easier. If you're still driving in the Lee's Summit area and would usually enter and exit at Highway 50... expect to continue to use alternate routes and be inconvenienced. Hopefully, MoDOT's timeline that the project will wrap up by the end of the summer means all this will soon be over.

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