The original Liberty Bend Bridge was located about two miles to the north, which then crossed over into Clay County, Missouri.

In the late 1940s, plans were developed to relocate the Liberty Bend was about 2 miles (3.2 km) north of where it was previously located.

Because of this, the part of Missouri Route 291 in the area was to be demolished, and a new bridge was to be built to replace it.

At that point, the span and its winding approaches were closed permanently; aside from the segment towards the bridge, it was entirely demolished by 1973.

[3] The old bridges electric lines were replaced with dedicated cables, and the approaches were truncated to not cross the river at all.

the approach closer to the former bridge was renamed as Southview Drive, and traffic was blocked off form crossing.

Work immediately began on rehabilitating the original bridge; its steel deck was replaced with concrete, structure repaired, among other minor upgrades.

In a few days a temporary (permanent/paved) crossover was constructed, allowing the rerouting of northbound traffic to share the southbound bridge while repairs were completed.