Intersections that drive you crazy in Mid-Missouri

There are more than 500 miles of streets in Columbia. The number one intersection viewers told ABC 17 News drives them crazy is in Columbia; the connector where Highway 63 and I-70 meet.

At 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, you’ll usually see bumper to bumper traffic.

So is it safe? Will it ever get better?

The answer is it could, but there is one problem.

“It all boils down to funding which we do not have,” said Michael Schupp, MoDOT Area Engineer. Schupp is like many of us stuck in traffic at this intersection daily, but he knows just how to make it better.

“We have looked at it several times and it was one of the projects that was listed on Amendment 7 basically if you had a flyover ramp,” said Schupp. A flyover ramp would eliminate a stop light for those merging from I-70 to Highway 63.

“Basically it’s a bridge that comes off of 70, ties back into 63 where the traffic would not have to stop through a signal,” said Schupp. However, since Amendment 7 didn’t pass, it’s looking like traffic on the connector will continue.

We tested the intersection ourselves.

5 minutes passed, and we didn’t even make it to the first light. By the time we got to the I-70 westbound ramp, it took close to 10 minutes.

The excess of cars causes slow traffic, which actually means less severe car crashes from the numbers we obtained. We pulled crash report data from the connector to see if it was a dangerous intersection. While there have been 366 crashes in the past four years; no fatalities.

But this intersection in town isn’t the only spot that drives viewers crazy.

Here are some of their answers: “Grindstone to Providence.” “Broadway.” “Usually Stadium near the mall.” “Rock Quarry; people fly through Rock Quarry and that’s pretty scary.”

Rock Quarry Road is Columbia’s only designated scenic route.

It’s close to 2 miles long, and in the past year, there have been 78 accidents on the road.

We compared that number to a similarly sized road, East St. Charles. It was slightly longer and had 39 crashes. We also discovered a road that some people feel has improved: Stadium Boulevard and I-70.

“I think a lot of the construction did help clear up a lot. But I think it still can be kind of a cluster sometimes.”

The construction she is referring to is the diverging diamond, which had some drivers concerned at first because drivers are on the wrong side of the road for at least a minute, then pass through a traffic light and cross over to the right side of the road.

Since construction has been complete, there has been one accident reported on the intersection. Some drivers, though, said they are still confused by it.

“It’s a right turn only. But a lot of people still merge on it even though it’s a red light.”

“We usually stop.” Which is correct. “Because you cannot see, especially when the cars are going 40 mph.”

We took her question to Schupp who said the red light is there for a reason. Drivers are to stop because cars are coming at a different direction than usual, and visibility is low. Not everyone seems to know this, though.

“It makes it difficult because not everyone interprets it the same way, and then you have people going around on the other shoulder and people getting upset so it’s kind of confusing still.”

Schupp said if you are ever confused and are at a red light, stay put until it turns green…a color many would like to see more of at the connector.

Schupp did say that while you are waiting in traffic, cameras are capturing how many cars are waiting and calculating how long the green light should be. He said the lights are in sync.