$46M on local MoDOT docket

With decreased funding, the Missouri Department of Transportation has nearly $46 million in projects lined up for the Ozarks Transportation Organization area in fiscal 2016.

Following the failure of Amendment 7 at the polls last year – which dismissed a proposed 3/4-cent transportation sales tax – the state cut back on plans for new construction, with only maintenance work on the docket.

 In June, the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission approved a $2.1 billion budget for MoDOT, down $127 million from its fiscal 2015 budget, with $100 million less in contractor payments.

“Amendment 7 had a piece of our ongoing program to take care of pavements and bridges, but mainly focused on expanding the transportation system,” said Frank Miller, MoDOT southwest district planning manager, noting most projects in south central Greene and north central Christian counties already were planned for resurfacing or bridgework prior to the amendment. “Most of that list is not going to happen.”

Miller said due, in part, to cost-saving measures and reallocation of funds, two Amendment 7 projects are on schedule for the area. MoDOT will tackle bridge improvements along U.S. Highway 13 over West Radio Lane in north Springfield and operational and roadway improvements from north of James River Freeway to south of Evans Road.

Projects on the docket for fiscal 2016 include:
• Americans with Disabilities Act improvements at locations from Ellen Street to Main Street in Nixa and Walnut Street to Church Street in Ozark;

• safety improvements on sections of Glenstone Avenue from Interstate 44 to Battlefield Road;

• pavement improvements to Kansas Expressway west of U.S. Highway 65;

• bridge improvements on the northbound bridge over Lake Springfield;

• railroad crossing grade separation at Chestnut Expressway and BNSF Railway Co. west of Highway 65;

• pavement improvements at the Sunshine Street interchange;

• intersection improvements at Kearney Street and Packer Road;

• pavement improvements from Norton Road to Evergreen Street in Greene County;

• pavement improvements from County Road 194 to Illinois Street in Republic;

• intersection improvements at Massey Boulevard and Mount Vernon Street in Nixa;

• High friction surface treatment  on curves near Richwood Road in Christian County; and

• pavement repair in the Ozarks Transportation Organization area.

MoDOT also suffered a financial blow this spring when a gas tax passed the Missouri Senate but died in a House committee.

If passed, Senate Bill 540 would have increased the tax on gasoline by 1.5 cents per gallon and increased the tax on diesel fuel by 3 cents per gallon. The tax would have raised about $50 million per year in additional revenue for state highways and bridges, still far less than the nearly $500 million MoDOT said it needs to maintain the existing system.

Going forward, Miller said the commission is interested in pursing four nonfunding related items with the legislature, including primary enforcement of seat belt laws and an all-driver texting ban.