MoDOT seeks public input to aid long-term planning

The Missouri Department of Transportation is turning to the public for help with its long-term planning, according to a release from MoDOT.

"Public input and engineering decisions are key to developing a new Long-Range Transportation Plan for Missouri," said MoDOT Director Henry Hungerbeeler, in the release.

Citizen focus groups are meeting this month and in February to help set standards that will be used to evaluate how well highways and bridges meet public expectations. Some of the participants will accompany engineers on road tests as part of the process for developing standards.

"We're going directly to the people we serve to better define what they want, and then it's up to us to determine how best to deliver those service within the resources we have," Hungerbeeler said. "We'll also be able to report later in the year on the gap that exists between what we can do with limited resources and what the public wants."

Safety is paramount, Hungerbeeler said, and it is the No. 1 issue in MoDOT's strategic plan.

The planning process also will include opinion surveys and public discussion groups whose comments will be used in preparing a draft report, which is expected to be ready in June.

The report, which will identify needs and propose a process for establishing priorities for the next 20 years, will be reviewed by the public from June through August.

"We're taking the report back to the customers one more time for refinement," Hungerbeeler said, "and then we'll be ready for a final report. Among other uses, this report will guide development of our Five-Year Program for the period 2001-2005. We'll implement changes while keeping our commitments."

Hungerbeeler added, "We've learned from experience that making project commitments beyond five years is impractical. The value of the shorter schedule is demonstrated by our performance on the Short-Term Action Plan, which delivered $3.3 billion in projects from 1995 through 1999. It was completed on schedule, within budget and exceeded the goals that were set."

MoDOT will also determine ways to improve cooperative operation of all transportation systems in the state, Hungerbeeler said, including aviation, railroads, transit, highways and waterways.

"Experts agree it's impossible to build our way out of traffic congestion," he said. "Intermodal shipping is the key to global transportation development. As a result, almost anyone in Missouri can ship a package almost anywhere in a day. But the same intermodal opportunities aren't there for passenger travel. For many, the automobile is not an option. We need to determine how to make transportation available for everyone."

Hungerbeeler added that MoDOT is spending more on taking care of the existing highway and bridge system to halt the decline in overall condition.

"Why emphasize building new highways when trends clearly show we're losing the battle against deterioration of roads and bridges?" Hungerbeeler said. "That's like adding new rooms to a house that's decaying.

"Bridges are critical, yet many have reached or are about to reach the end of their useful life. About 350 deficient bridges should be scheduled for replacement, but we can't include them the Five-Year Program because we don't have resources."

MoDOT will seek alternative financing methods to have more flexibility in meeting needs, he said. These could include bond financing and toll facilities. Something must be done, he added, because travel is increasing but the relative investment in highway transportation is declining.