Transportation organization seeks input on infrastructure priorities

What if the Missouri Department of Transportation had the money to improve infrastructure in the Springfield area?

That's the question the Ozarks Transportation Organization is asking stakeholders through a newly created website.

Via GiveUsYourInput.org, the metropolitan planning organization is seeking input from anyone with a stake in Springfield and the surrounding areas to weigh in on their top five priorities from a list of 14.

The list comprises:

• expanding U.S. Highway 65 to six lanes from James River Freeway to Route F in Ozark;
• widening state Highway 14 to four lanes;
• increasing the lane count to six on James River Freeway from Highway 65 to West Bypass;
• converting U.S. Highway 60 to a freeway from Springfield to Rogersville;
• adding acceleration and deceleration lanes on Interstate 44 in Springfield;
• conducting an environmental study to examine widening I-44 to six lanes;
• widening U.S. 160 to four lanes from Springfield to Willard;
• conducting interchange improvements at Highway 65 and Kearney Street;
• widening U.S. 160 to six lanes from Springfield to Nixa;
• adding technological system improvements;
• designating an interstate loop around Springfield;
• upgrading Route 60 to Expressway West of Republic;
• conducting improvements on Kansas Expressway, Cox Road and the Nicholas Road corridor between Springfield and Nixa; and
• widening Route MM to three lanes from I-44 to Highway 60.

While MoDOT's governing board approved a 20-year plan for the state department in February, officials noted it had little chance of pulling off the plan with current funding levels. The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission warns the transportation department's construction budget would soon fall below the minimum $485 million per year needed to keep road and bridges in satisfactory condition, according to Springfield Business Journal archives.

The OTO also seeks input on questions related to transit, economic development and other transportation-related matters.

According to the site, the OTO teamed with the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce and the Springfield office of Olsson and Associates Inc. to build the website, as requested by MoDOT.