A major South City thoroughfare should be fully open by early March, the city says, for the first time in nearly a year. Jefferson Avenue, between Utah and Wyoming Streets and adjacent to Benton Park, has seen both its southbound lanes closed since last spring, sending drivers into the turning lane to travel south.
The cause for the nearly year-long disruption: damaged water infrastructure during utility work, according to a spokesperson for the city’s water department. The damage dates back to last spring, and delays in getting the proper part have kept the road closed for months. A rare 20-inch water valve that has taken months to procure is finally set to come later this month. Other valves were also damaged.
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The city spokesperson, when asked to name the party responsible for the damage, said it was “policy never to ascribe any potential blame to any of our partners specifically,” in the interest of maintaining good working relationships with all partners. Spire, which worked in that block in 2025, says it left in August and also did not cause the damage. Some other firms, and city departments, also did work in that block last spring, per a document listing calls for work in the area provided to SLM by a Spire spokesperson.
Last year, for a time, two large barricades were placed in the middle of the intersection of Wyoming and Jefferson with little warning. Later, the city instead swapped in cones just a bit further south, allowing drivers to pass if they used the center lane. The city now finally projects to be done with the work in the first week of March, but not without further traffic changes.
Workers will “implement a traffic pattern” starting today that cuts Jefferson to one lane in both directions between Wyoming and Cherokee Streets, the city water spokesperson said. That’s to allow excavation to open the soon-to-be repaired water main. The long-awaited valve is expected for delivery on Monday and slated for install on Tuesday.
That area will be reopened after restoring the roadway, they say, but further work will be done on March 2 to similarly curb traffic between Utah and Wyoming streets before those streets will be filled in and restored, as well.
