Examining MoDOT’s five-year plan for Mid-Missouri
The Missouri Department of Transportation said it only has enough money for relatively minor issues and maintenance in Mid-Missouri over the next five years.
Wednesday, ABC 17 News examined MoDOT’s recently released Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) for 2018-2022.
In Boone County alone, MoDOT plans to spend about $32.7 million on projects just to keep up with the current roads and bridges.
In Cole County, the department plans to spend another $20.3 million over the five-year period.
That is $53 million just for two counties in the state.
“You know, the adding four lanes, the adding capacity, we don’t have any of those projects because the funding situation where we’re in, basically we’re taking care of the system we have and trying to keep it at its current condition,” said Mike Schupp, a MoDOT area engineer.
In Mid-Missouri, the five-year plan includes mostly pavement and bridge improvement projects.
“The main thing you’re gonna see is pavement preservation, maintenance projects where we’re doing mill and fills, overlaying roadways, we’re adding shoulders to some of our lower-volume minor routes,” Schupp said.
In Boone County, some of the bigger projects include:
replacing the bridge on Highway 124 over Grindstone Creek in 2019 rehabilitation work to multiple other bridges pavement improvements on north and southbound lanes along Highway 63
Some of the larger projects in Cole County include:
bidding out pavement improvements to Highway 50 surrounding the Truman Boulevard Interchange this fall making improvements to the Dix Road Bridge in Jefferson City
“We have to keep those bridges on a cycle so we have funding to get them replaced,” Schupp said. “You know, I think the average life expectancy I saw of our bridges is 45 years and our average age is 46.”
ABC 17 News reported in late June that a special commission formed by state lawmakers started work to figure out ways to increase transportation funding. One option discussed was potentially raising the state gas tax.
The commission is set to turn in its final report in January 2018.
