The Missouri Department of Transportation this week outlined its plan to focus on major roadways with its dwindling budget.
Dubbed Missouri’s 325 System, the plan calls on the transportation department to focus on roughly 8,000 of the state’s 34,000-mile highway system. The areas of focus are primary highways connecting cities across the state, according to a news release.
With a construction budget expected to drop to $325 million in 2017, MoDOT will use its limited funding to keep the roads in the condition they are today, as well as conduct maintenance and rehabilitation work such as overlays and bridge replacements. Enhancements, such as interchange improvements, will not be possible under the current funding structure, officials said.
“We need at least $485 million to maintain roads and bridges in the condition they are today, so facing a $325 million budget means making some tough choices,” MoDOT Director Dave Nichols said in the release. “In addition, Missouri won’t be able to match federal funds in 2017, which provides a $4 to $1 investment. That revenue will be lost to other states.”
Under the 325 plan, the roads that carry 80 percent of the traffic will be maintained. However, some supplementary roads that carry heavy traffic volumes - 30,000 to 50,000 vehicles per day - won’t fall under the plan. An example is Glenstone Avenue in Springfield, according to the department.
“We’ve reduced staff, facilities and equipment and directed the savings to roads and bridges,” Nichols said in the release. “Without additional funding, though, we’re now faced with having to reduce services as well.”
One potential aid to MoDOT’s situation was struck down by voters in August, when the Amendment 7 sales tax failed to pass. Gov. Jay Nixon also has welcomed the idea of tollbooths on Interstate 70, an idea that is circulating in Jefferson City but has been unpopular in the past, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.[[In-content Ad]]
