Fire Chief: MODOT project will increase response times
ASHLAND, Mo. (KMIZ)
Emergency responders may need more time to respond to certain areas after a road construction project on Route 63.
The Missouri Department of Transportation presented plans to improve several intersections of 63 in Boone and Callaway counties at a public meeting on Tuesday.
The project is currently in its planning phase, according to the MODOT website. Melissa Wilbers, the project manager, said the department plans to start construction as early as Spring 2021.
Among the changes include the removal of several median lanes that connect the north and southbound lanes of 63.
Wilbers said those 90-degree turns on and off the highway can lead to severe and even fatal crashes.
"There are about 30,000 vehicles a day on that road, so finding a gap to get in is difficult," Wilbers said.
MODOT is working with a $5 million budget. The project could include three intersections north of Ashland, and three south.
The intersections at Angel Lane, E. New Salem Lane, E. Loy Martin Road and Renz Farm Road will be included in the project. The department will also work on the intersections at Mount Pleasant and E. Claysville Roads if a contractor offers to do so under the $5 million budget.
James Bullard, the chief for the Southern Boone County Fire Protection District, said the project will have both positive and negative effects.
The removal of crossover lanes will remove immediate access to both directions of 63, Bullard said, which means longer drives for emergency responders.
"(The project) will decrease the severity of some of the accidents, but it will increase the response times to some areas," Bullard said. "I hope there are additions to these (plans)."
Wilbers said that a focus group, which included emergency responders, was consulted during the project's design and response times were considered.
"There may be some adverse travel for the folks, the businesses along that corridor, but it’s safer. And that is our primary goal with the project," she said.
