Building for What’s Next:

Southwestern Missouri is booming — and its infrastructure is racing to keep pace. Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS) has been hard at work as General Contractor on the $20.5-million MoDOT Greene County Route MM Improvements project, a two-mile roadway overhaul designed to meet the demands of one of the region’s fastest-growing corridors.

The region’s steady residential and commercial expansion has put pressure on a corridor that wasn’t built for today’s traffic volumes. An aging at-grade railroad crossing has long created safety risks and bottlenecks for commuters and freight alike, particularly at the critical intersection of US 60. The ESS team is set to move a total 196,000 cubic yards of earth to reshape the corridor, constructing approximately two miles of new roadway, widening the existing route, and adding turn lanes and signal improvements along US 60. They’re also building a new bridge over the BNSF Railroad to eliminate the at-grade crossing entirely, separating rail and vehicle traffic for good.

Infrastructure investment of this scale doesn’t just move cars — it moves markets. As the work progresses through construction, including more than 8,000 linear feet of underground utility, the improved connectivity and reduced congestion will make the region more attractive for continued residential development and commercial investment, positioning the corridor as a long-term economic driver for southwest Missouri.

Heavy civil construction today faces a familiar set of pressures: supply chain volatility, skilled labor shortages, rising material costs, and increasingly complex utility coordination. The work on Route MM has been a case study in navigating that complexity. The ESS team will be managing the relocation of a 161-kV electrical transmission line, in coordination with Toth Engineers, to clear the way for the new bridge, along with installing soil improvements and wick drains to stabilize the roadway foundation ahead of the more than 60,000 square yards of asphalt and concrete paving to come.

“None of this happens without our employee-owners,” said Paul Moody, Vice President of Operations at ESS. “This team has tackled every challenge this project has thrown at them, and their ownership mindset shows up in the quality of the work every single day.”

Dustin Cain, Project Manager, echoed that sentiment, “Our crews have worked hard to keep this project moving, especially through the ongoing closure at RT. MM and 60. That intersection has to reopen by mid-August in time for Republic School to start, and we’re on pace to make that happen. I’m proud of what this team has accomplished so far, and I know they’ll carry that same standard through to completion.”

With completion scheduled for 2028, Route MM represents more than a road project — it’s a long-term commitment to how southwest Missouri moves, grows, and connects. By the time crews lay the estimated 28,000 tons of asphalt, the corridor will be transformed. A dangerous rail crossing will be eliminated, capacity will be built ahead of demand, and groundwork will be laid alongside MoDOT that will serve Republic and Greene County for decades.