Tecumseh curves project complete

The Highway 160 Tecumseh curves project is completed except for “touch-ups,” a Missouri Department of Transportation spokesperson said Monday. Work on the $3.4 million job, described as a “realignment” of multiple curves in a 1-mile stretch of Highway 160 that snaked up the hill west of Norfork Lake at Tecumseh, widened the original roadway and added guardrails and paved shoulders. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission awarded the contract to Van Buren-based H.R. Quadri Contractors in February with a targeted Nov. 1 completion date. Thirteen structures were removed within the project’s footprint, including five rock-faced tourist cabins at nearby Rocky Top Campground. The job was delayed in 2020 while the State Historical Preservation Office investigated the cabins’ historical significance; officials eventually ruled that the cabins could be removed. A separate MoDOT project, still ongoing, is adding rumble strips on the shoulders of Highway 160 between Gainesville and Caulfield. The rumble strips will be added to the new roadway on the Tecumseh curves as that job progresses.