Residents, business owners, and visitors alike are now enjoying a freshly resurfaced Bagnell Dam Blvd from School Road to the MM Overpass due to the City’s renewed focus on street improvements and infrastructure maintenance.
In 2023, the Lake Ozark Board of Aldermen identified this distressed portion of roadway as the first of several road improvements to occur in the City over the next several months. Where there was very recently crumbling road surface and abundant potholes, there is once again a smooth, consistent driving surface over the Camden County portion of Bagnell Dam Boulevard.
City leadership has been pleased with the outcome of the project and thankful to Capital Paving for the quality of work provided. Primarily, work on this project occurred during night hours so as to have minimal impact on traffic within our community. This approach to work led to a smooth and efficient process throughout the project. The project improvements were designed and construction managed by Alpha Engineering.
A second phase of improvements is planned for the end of summer or early fall that will continue the repairs from School Road to the city limit line near Bagnell Dam. In addition to these improvements, residents on Lighthouse Road will have a rebuilt road surface by year-end as well, with the road to be widened and fully reconstructed from Highway W to the Eagle Crest intersection. This will include installation of curb and gutter systems for the new roadway. Construction bidding is currently underway.
Mayor Dennis Newberry states that “weeks before becoming Mayor I reviewed our city budget and identified items I felt the City of Lake Ozark was spending money on that was not in the best interest of taxpayers. I acted on those items, cut costs and diverted revenues without asking residents or businesses for any new taxes. I knew we would need a lot of money to fix our streets and I was determined to make that happen. “
In the past three years, the City has been able to increase funding of road improvements from $25,000 annually to now include larger scale projects like those currently underway. The first phase of Bagnell Dam Boulevard was budgeted at $940,000, with final project costs coming in just over $600,000. The Lighthouse Road project is budgeted at $1.3 million. These two projects, and a water main extension on Overlook Road, were paid for by a debt issuance in 2023 that will be repaid over the next ten years.
While there is still much progress to be made on road improvements in Lake Ozark, this work is made possible by voter-approved revisions to our tax distribution, projects identified by Public Works leadership and the Board of Aldermen, and a citizen-led road committee formed to explore funding means. For more information on future projects, visit the 2024-2026 Capital Improvement Plan at https://cdn.townweb.com/cityoflakeozark.net/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Capital-Improvements-Plan-Lake-Ozark-2023.pdf