MoDOT release Route 54 safety audit; recommendations include signs, guard cable and more
The Missouri Department of Transportation has released the findings of their safety audit on Route 54. The audit stemmed from a series of wrong-way drivers and fatal crashes.
A multi-agency task force examined a 100-mile stretch of Route 54 from Camdenton to Mexico. The agency also examined wrong-way, curve and cross-median crash data for a five year period from Jan. 1, 2011 to July 19, 2016.
The audit found that the existing condition on Route 54 meet all state and federal standards. However, MoDOT is hoping to improve the safety of the highway with a few key changes. Those include signs, guard cable and high friction surface treatments on curves.
“Based on the audit findings, we believe a combination of traffic solutions can be implemented to enhance safety along the Route 54 corridor in Mid-Missouri,” David Silvester, district engineer for MoDOT’s Central District says. “We are now looking at the fastest and most cost-effective way to do as much of the work as our limited resources will allow.”
In the past five years, the audited stretch of Route 54 has experienced 10 wrong-way crashes, resulting in 11 fatalities.
During that same time frame, on the same stretch of road, 410 crashes on curves have occurred.
ABC 17 News will have more in our 6 p.m. newscast tonight.
