MoDOT puts new interstate on its radar

Becky Baltz, district engineer for the southwest district, said a preliminary concept plan is in the works to turn Highway 71 into an interstate. Baltz said the project, which would change the road into Interstate 49 and connect it to New Orleans, currently has no funding available at the state level.

“We’re going to do some very preliminary work to get an estimate on how much that would cost, so we can look at future funding for that project as well,” Baltz said.

The district also is looking at the Highway 60 and Route 37 corridor between Monett and Pierce City. No funding currently is available for that project, either, but Baltz said the department is doing preliminary design work to establish priority locations along the corridor.

Four major projects are under way:

• A bypass is under construction at State Route 249 and Range Line Road in Joplin, which will take traffic east of Joplin on four lanes between Interstate 44 and Highway 171. The project is set for completion in 2008.

• Widening of Highway 71 to four lanes from Joplin to the Arkansas state line continues. All but eight miles of the stretch is complete; the entire project should be finished next year.

• Highway 13 is being widened to four lanes between Springfield and Clinton and is scheduled to be done in 2009.

• Resurfacing work, costing $29 million this year, is going on across the district, which covers 11 counties in extreme southwest Missouri. The work is part of the Smoother Roads Initiative, set for completion by the end of the year.

Any major projects would have to be included in the department’s rolling five-year plan; Baltz said the southwest district plan goes next month to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission.

See SBJ’s June 26 issue for more on the Joplin transportation industry and other Joplin news.[[In-content Ad]]