When Merle Jones first moved to in Neosho in 1963 he quickly discovered there was just no direct and easy way to get to the west side of town from his house on 1120 Cash St.

For 45 years, he has had to drive out of his way to reach the downtown or Neosho Boulevard.

But in less than one year, he won’t have to do that anymore.

On Tuesday, Jones joined in a groundbreaking ceremony for the future South Street overpass, which will connect the east and west ends of town by being the only through-access city street running in that direction.

When completed next summer, the 260-foot long bridge will span a low-lying valley to join the two ends of South Street, which currently stops at the bottom of two hills on either side of the dale.

Jones, for one, believes the overpass has been a long time coming.

“When I came in here in ’63, they were talking about doing this,” he said. “They even cut the timber out where I live and I thought then they were getting ready to get started. But that has been years ago now.”

 Jones admitted that traffic in front of his house will inevitably increase after the bridge is built, but said it would be worth it just to have a direct access to the west side of town, where most of the businesses are located.

Funding for the $2.2 million project traces back to 2007, when city voters narrowly approved an eighth-cent sales tax to indirectly fund the work through bond sales.

But the idea of building the overpass has been floating around for at least 50 years and was even mentioned in Neosho’s 1958 Comprehensive Plan.

The reason nothing became of it, according to Mayor Howard Birdsong, is because no one ever really took steps to make it happen.

“We resurrected it about 10 years ago because the city was growing and we needed improvements for access throughout the city,” Birdsong said. “When we saw the 1958 recommendation, we started exploring the feasibility and decided this is what we needed to do…we decided this is what the citizens wanted back then and it’s what we need today.”

Not just a matter of driving convenience, the overpass will improve safety all-around, Birdsong said. He said it cuts the required time for emergency vehicles to traverse from one side of town to the other, and eliminates the need to cross railroad tracks in certain instances. He said school buses would probably be rerouted after there is an east-west corridor through the city, allowing buses to get off of some of the more narrow or congested streets.

“Every other street stops somewhere and then you have to turn left or right, and then probably a few more lefts or rights, but this one will go straight through,” Birdsong said.

Representatives from West Plains Bridge & Grading, which won the general contract bid for the overpass, were not present at Tuesday’s groundbreaking. But project engineer, Jason Eckhart, of Carthage-based Sprenkle & Associates, said it should take about 10 months to build the bridge, which will include a covered walk-way on the north side and terminate at a roundabout on the west end.

The roundabout, to measure 195 foot in diameter, with a 20-foot wide driving lane, would be the only one existing in town and may take local drivers some getting used to, Birdsong admitted.

“But I think once they see it, it will help the flow of traffic,” he said. “If you’ve never been on a roundabout before, you have to get accustomed to it. But there’s one in Carthage and they’re prevalent throughout the country, particularly in New England, and over in Europe, and it does not impede traffic flow at all. In fact, it helps control traffic.”

Meanwhile, Jones said he’s looking forward to the day when he can drive to the Boulevard or downtown without having to go the long way around.

“It’s going to be nice,” he said.