With the demolition of the Highway 47 overpass over Interstate 70 scheduled for this spring, local first-responders have created plans to prepare to be able to continue to cover Warren County in an efficient way.

The Missouri Department of Transportation project is anticipated to begin in late March and take approximately 140 days. Due to a major thoroughfare through the county being unusable during this period of time, local agencies have formed plans to deal with the issue.

The Warrenton Fire Protection District, for instance, will be increasing its staffing levels, Chief Anthony Hayeslip said. During the pendency of the closure, the department will staff two fire trucks 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with one truck to be assigned to Fire Station 1, located north of I-70 and one truck to be assigned to Fire Station 2, located south of I-70. Hayeslip said in order to allow for full staffing at fire station 1, his current office will be converted into housing for fire fighters to use.

For incidents where more staffing may be needed, Hayeslip said that trucks will need to use Warrenton Boulevard to the north or south side of town.

Alternate routes will be hugely important, Warren County Emergency Management Director Mike Thornton said. Access points from the north and south parts of Warrenton will be at Warrenton Boulevard, Stracks Church Road and Wildcat Drive in Wright City if necessary.

Thornton said the service roads can also be used to get from one point in town to another.

“It is a concern,” Thornton said regarding the traffic issues. “It is going to add increased travel time.”

Thornton said for his agency Warrenton Boulevard is the first option, with Stracks Church Road a secondary option.

The Warren County Ambulance District has similar plans. According to Public Information Officer Grant Krull, the district’s current deployment model supports coverage on the north and south sides of I-70. He said currently the ambulance district has two ambulances on the north side of the interstate and one on the south side of the interstate.

“Our plan is to shift a second ambulance to base 3 (on the south side),” Krull said. “Base 1 will have only one ambulance.”

Krull said the district would also be shifting its coverage zones as well to ensure proper coverage throughout the county. He said as the road closure continues the department will analyze call logs and call density and make adjustments in the plan as needed to ensure the fastest response time. Krull also said where needed they may also stage an ambulance at the district’s staging area off of Stracks Church Road and the South Service Road.

Warren County Sheriff Kevin Harrison said his department already divides the entire county into a north and south zone. Harrison said that while the closure of the Highway 47 bridge could affect response times, he doesn’t anticipate it being that big of an issue for his department. Harrison noted that calls for service don’t generally initiate at the department’s office downtown, but instead are dispatched to deputies already in the field. Harrison said that when deputies reach their normal locations throughout the county there is sufficient coverage to allow his department to effectively cover both sides of the interstate.