Photo courtesy of Lake Shots Photography
Now that the toll’s come to an end, is it a new frontier on Shawnee Bend?
by Tegan Pasley
In April 2024, the last toll was collected on the Lake of the Ozarks Community Bridge, two years ahead of schedule.
The end of the tolls was celebrated by residents and businesspeople alike. And within months, business owners were saying they were already seeing the effects of the free passage.
Traffic across the bridge has increased 40-50% over the same period last year, according to MoDOT Area Engineer, Danny Roeger, who said the traffic was peaking at over 11,000 vehicles in a day, on the busiest Fridays.
When it opened in 1998, the Community (toll) Bridge opened up development in what is now known as The Villages at Shawnee Bend and Porto Cima. Without it, the land would have mostly likely been undevelopable due to its remote location. Over the past 25 years, some of the most beautiful homes at Lake of the Ozarks have been built on that side of the bridge. Now that the toll is gone, builders and real estate experts anticipate even more development in the coming years.
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