The Missouri Department of Transportation's efforts to cut spending in the face of dwindling state and federal funding has reached the human resources department.
MoDOT announced Wednesday plans to eliminate 400 salaried positions by 2013, through a combination of shifting jobs and instituting a hiring freeze on 75 percent of open positions. The department estimates the move will save $81 million over the next five years.
MoDOT also plans to save another $122 million by cutting costs, including reduced spending on vehicles and capital improvements, information technology and materials, according to a department news release. MoDOT also will cut back on mowing, litter pickup and sign replacement and use shorter-term pavement treatments and less-expensive striping techniques.
In terms of construction, the plan calls for a focus on keeping the existing transportation system in good condition and meeting current commitments in the five-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program.
The department's construction plans have been cut back due to stagnant state revenues, uncertainty in federal funding and the end of the state's Amendment 3 bond program.
“MoDOT has made great strides in improving Missouri’s transportation system and rebuilding trust with the people we serve, but financial uncertainties are threatening the progress we’ve made over the past five years,” MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said in the release. “I have been saying for quite some time that transportation funding is headed over a cliff. Now we are forced to make tough decisions that will make MoDOT smaller and change the way we do business.”
Also on Wednesday, MoDOT announced a new chairman of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, which governs MoDOT.
Rudy Farber, of Neosho, began a one-year term as chairman. Farber, chairman of the board of Community Bank & Trust, has served on the commission since 2007.
