Intersection improvements to Route B and Waco Road start Monday

An improvement project to a busy and sometimes dangerous Columbia intersection is set to start Monday.

The estimated $380,000 project at Waco Road and Route B is scheduled to be done by the end of the year.

According to data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol, 12 people have been injured in 8 crashes at the intersection from 2011 to Oct. 6, 2017. Several deadly crashes have happened nearby on Route B.

Crews will install traffic signals, raised islands and crosswalks at the intersection.

“This should be a better approach overall for the entire safety of the area,” said Columbia Public Works engineer Richard Stone.

The area will likely see more traffic once Kraft Heinz completes its expansion and Aurora Organic Dairy finishes construction.

“At the time that we did the analysis, we didn’t know what was going to go in there,” Stone said. “So we knew there could be additional trucks, but they’re such a small percentage of the overall traffic that it’s a factor, but it’s not the determining factor.”

The intersection improvement project will be funded through the 2015 Capital Improvement Sales Tax.