West Plains, MO. – Planning Director Emily Gibson, and Building Official and Zoning Administrator Dustin Harrison, both working for West Plains, stepped into the studio recently to talk to News Team 7 and provide an update on a few interesting goings-on within the city.
The recording of the interview can be listened to here:
Multiple topics were approached by both City officials, including news on the state of the railroad overpass on Independence Drive, bridge replacement on St. Louis Street, and possible upcoming development near the Southern Hills Shopping Center.
According to these officials, work on St. Louis Street is expected sometime this year, possibly as soon as the summer, and work on the overpass is planned to begin in 2024.
For those unaware, the St. Louis Street bridge replacement work is being put in place to improve not only St Louis Street itself, but also to more adequately prepare for the overflow of water that can sometimes overtake the Howell Creek that runs beneath it. This was made doubly apparent in the 2017 flood that damaged large portions of the City of West Plains.
The overpass, which has been talked about for some time, is planned to be installed at the railroad crossing on Independence Drive.
A topic unavoidable when considering City development was the recent efforts to bring in citizen input on a comprehensive 10-year-plan. Regarding that, Emily stated: “What’s really exciting going through a process like the comprehensive development plan… really is seeing the excitement of people to really engage, really invest, and wanting to do more, and do things better.”
