MoDOT selects firms for $27M SWMO roadway project

The governing board of the Missouri Department of Transportation has selected a joint venture of construction and engineering firms from across the state, including a Springfield company, for a road project near Rogersville.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission voted to pen a contract with the Ozark Regional Road Constructors group, of which Springfield-based geotechnical engineering firm Palmerton & Parrish Inc. is a member, according to a news release.

The ORRC members should begin work this fall on a $27 million project to design and build improvements to U.S. 60 in Rogersville. The project includes two interchanges at Routes B/VV where it intersects with Highway 60 and one near Farm Road 253 east of Business 60. The project effectively upgrades Highway 60 to a freeway through Rogersville, according to MoDOT.org. Completion is slated for December 2016.

The ORRC beat out three other teams for the project. Other members of ORRC are: Pleasant Hill-based Radmacher Brothers Excavating Co. Inc.; Jacksonville, Fla.-based Reynolds, Smith & Hills Inc.; Kansas City-based CFS Engineers; Kansas City-based Trekk Design Group LLC, which has a local office; and Kansas City-based HG Consult Inc., according to the release.

In the release, MoDOT said projects such as the Route 60 improvements in Rogersville would not be possible in the future without additional funding. MoDOT is promoting a 3/4-cent transportation sales tax expected to inject $540 million annually into its budget. The tax faces opponents such as Gov. Jay Nixon, who said working Missourians would take the full brunt of the tax, while heavy users would be largely unscathed.