County Inches Forward to Project Redbird Completion
Date Posted: December 3, 2024
Posted In: Projects,
From Leader Publications: The first part of Project Redbird, a multi-governmental effort to improve the transportation network around the former Festus Memorial Airport in Crystal City in preparation for the construction of the James Hardie manufacturing plant, will be completed on schedule in December, county officials said.
Project manager Lane Harness of the Jefferson County Public Works Department said expediency was a big goal for the first phase of the project.
For that phase, construction crews repaved Airport Road and Calvary Church Road to withstand heavy industrial traffic. Crews still need to install guardrails. as well as sod the grounds along Airport Road, Harness said.
He said he’s proud of his team for completing phase one on schedule.
Harness said he first met with design consultants in late August 2023.
“To get all of this stuff out in the expedient time frame, it took everybody at Jefferson County, Crystal City, (Missouri Department of Transportation) personnel,” he said. “It was a big effort that everybody collectively worked together really hard on to get done.”
The county used a $7.2 million grant from the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission that was included in the 2024 state budget to help pay for the phase one construction costs. The county was required to provide a 100 percent local match for the grant and designated $7.25 million in federal American Rescue Plan Act funding for the project back in 2020.