Poplar Bluff milestone, Shelby Road ext. opens to public

Poplar Bluff marked its second major milestone this week on Friday, with the long-awaited opening of the Shelby Road extension.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was held Friday morning on the Kanell Boulevard side of the stretch of four-lane highway. The road was built in the hopes it would eventually handle more than 15,000 cars a day.

By Friday afternoon, many residents had already made the 4.4-mile trip that now includes the full length of Shelby from north Poplar Bluff to Highway 53.

Poplar Bluff City Manager Mark Massingham addresses attendees at the Shelby Road ribbon cutting ceremony. DAR/Jonathan Martin

“This will be an asset to connecting Highway 67 to (Highway) 53,” Mayor Robert Smith said during the ceremony. “It is an honor to stand here before you with the opening of Phase 2 of Shelby Road.”

This has been an exciting week for Poplar Bluff, city manager Mark Massingham said during the ribbon cutting ceremony.

“Today we’re here for another sign of progress in Poplar Bluff,” he told a large crowd that included city council members, county commissioners, police and fire personnel, Three Rivers College President Wes Payne and Poplar Bluff R-I Superintendent Scott Dill.

Poplar Bluff Mayor Robert Smith speaks to crowd during the ribbon cutting at Shelby RoadDAR/Jonathan Martin

Earlier in the week, Empire Comfort Systems was named as the newest company to join the Poplar Bluff Industrial Park. It expects to open a new plant by August and employ up to 200 people in the next several years.

The success the town sees now is due to the work of many people, Massingham said. That includes Larry Hillis and Paul Duckett, local businessmen who had the vision for Shelby several years ago, city council members dating back several years, and former city manager Doug Bagby, Massingham said.

The original 1.9 miles of Shelby, from Oak Grove Road to Kanell Boulevard, cost $5 million and took four years to complete.

Mayor Robert Smith cuts the ribbon for Shelby Road's openingDAR/Donna Farley

By 2011, planning had started on the extension, then estimated to cost around $6.5 million.

Construction did not start until September 2017, when project costs had increased to approximately $10 million.

The final 2.5 miles was completed at a cost of $10.4 million. City officials approved an approximately $400,000 change order for the project earlier this week, much of which included additional costs for rock excavation, according to contractors.

About 450,000 cubic yards of dirt was excavated during the project. Another 42,000 cubic yards of rock was also excavated, a time consuming process, said members of Robertson Contractors, which built the extension. This was about four times more rock than anticipated, said Travis Slayton, a project manager with Robertson.

Another challenge was with the bridge structure near Highway 53, said Shelby project manager Ty Milner. Originally designed as two structures, it was combined as one large bridge for cost savings.

Up to 1,000 cubic yards of concrete was being poured at times per shift in order to complete the deck. It required a total of 20,000 cubic yards of concrete.

“Probably the most satisfying thing for me personally is, it’s right here in our backyard and we get to see it every day,” said Jake Robertson, also a project manager with Robertson.

Massingham thanked Robertson and Smith & Company engineering firm for their work on this project.

“It is exciting to see this project finished,” said Bill Robison, of Smith & Company. “It is another example of the great things happening in this community. Smith & Company is grateful to have been a part.”

This will be an asset to all of Butler County, said presiding county commissioner Vince Lampe, who attended the ceremony.

“It was a long, hard fought battle, but they got it done,” said Lampe, who is working with the county and Robertson on completion of an overpass project at the industrial park.

The $3.4 million overpass is expected to be complete in the fall.