Attention Springfield drivers: prepare for detours. Starting March 17, Missouri Route 413, commonly known as Sunshine Street, will be closed over the MNA Railroad for a bridge replacement project that's set to overhaul the infrastructure and enhance pedestrian access. The Missouri Department of Transportation shared the news, advising that the closure between Scenic Avenue and Marion Avenue is expected to last up to four months, a necessary inconvenience for the promise of better and safer thoroughfares.

The slated shutdown of Sunshine Street is part of a larger effort to improve infrastructure in Greene County, with the project extending the addition of pedestrian facilities on both sides of the roadway, the closure is critical for Hartman & Co. Inc., the Springfield-based contractor handling the job, to safely replace the bridge at an estimated cost of $5.9 million; a public meeting is on the calendar for next Thursday at the Springfield Botanical Gardens to address any concerns and outline the impact this construction will have on daily commutes. Residents are encouraged to reroute via James River Freeway, Kansas Expressway, Chestnut Expressway, and U.S. Route 160 to sidestep the closure.

For those accustomed to traveling along Route 413, anticipate necessary adjustments to your route. Electronic message boards and press releases promise to keep the public informed on traffic changes, and while nobody relishes the thought of construction delays, the improvements to pedestrian infrastructure hint at a more walkable, accessible cityscape once the dust settles, a boon for those on foot.

Frustrations with road closures are a given, but safety and progress require sacrifice; completion of the bridge replacement is penciled in for July 15, marked as the date when normalcy resumes and, hopefully, the community reaps the benefits of enduring the summer of detours. It's a story of a city in transition, roads blocked to pave the way for advancements, commerce crawling so pedestrians may, in time, stride freely across a renovated Sunshine Street.