Midwest Freelancer archive article
MoDOT Making ‘Progress You Can Feel’
(Published Monday, Feb. 13, 2006)
By Chris Post/Midwest Freelancer
Anyone traveling along Missouri’s Interstate highways has probably seen the improvement work currently under way.
Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn said by the end of the year the work will result in “progress you can feel.” Rahn recently addressed state officials during his annual State of Transportation address.
MoDOT’s latest program, known as the “Smooth Roads Initiative,” aims to bring the state’s busiest highways up to “good” condition. When Missouri voters approved Amendment 3 to fund the program, MoDOT’s completion date was set for December 2007.
However, Gov. Matt Blunt called for the projects to be finished a year early in his 2006 State of the State address. That would mean improvement to 2,200 miles of highway by year’s end.
While accounting for only a small percentage of the state’s total road miles, the sections covered in the Smooth Roads Initiative carry 60 percent of all traffic, and 86 percent of Missouri's population lives within 10 miles of one of them. Nearly 29 billion miles a year are traveled on these roads.
“This is a major challenge, but the governor was right to stress fixing our roads as fast as possible,” Rahn said. “It is paramount to the success of our state. The sooner we finish, the sooner we benefit from the results. It will not be easy, but we will meet the governor’s challenge. When we do, it will be progress you can feel in record time.”
MoDOT crews have already been working on what will be the state’s largest-ever highway construction program. Missouri will spend $7.3 billion for 866 projects over the next five years. In 2005, that meant more than 1,000 highway work zones.
“There is no doubt, 2006 will be even bigger,” Rahn said.
Rahn’s address was not all good news, however. He said in 2010 the program’s construction budget is scheduled to drop from $1.4 billion to $805 million per year.
“The sun is shining on transportation in Missouri, but there are storm clouds on the horizon,” Rahn said. “Good old Missouri common sense says that you fix the roof when the sun is shining, not once it starts raining. It is imperative that we initiate a discussion about future transportation investments.”
Those future investments include additional repairs needed for Interstate 70, the state’s primary east-west highway. Rahn said portions of I-70, built to last 20 years, are nearly 50 years old.
“By 2030, the entire length of I-70 will be stop-and-go traffic and I-44 is just ten years behind,” he said. “I-70 needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and needs to be expanded to accommodate ever-growing traffic and the ever-larger vehicles using it.”
By Chris Post/Midwest Freelancer
Anyone traveling along Missouri’s Interstate highways has probably seen the improvement work currently under way.
Missouri Department of Transportation Director Pete Rahn said by the end of the year the work will result in “progress you can feel.” Rahn recently addressed state officials during his annual State of Transportation address.
MoDOT’s latest program, known as the “Smooth Roads Initiative,” aims to bring the state’s busiest highways up to “good” condition. When Missouri voters approved Amendment 3 to fund the program, MoDOT’s completion date was set for December 2007.
However, Gov. Matt Blunt called for the projects to be finished a year early in his 2006 State of the State address. That would mean improvement to 2,200 miles of highway by year’s end.
While accounting for only a small percentage of the state’s total road miles, the sections covered in the Smooth Roads Initiative carry 60 percent of all traffic, and 86 percent of Missouri's population lives within 10 miles of one of them. Nearly 29 billion miles a year are traveled on these roads.
“This is a major challenge, but the governor was right to stress fixing our roads as fast as possible,” Rahn said. “It is paramount to the success of our state. The sooner we finish, the sooner we benefit from the results. It will not be easy, but we will meet the governor’s challenge. When we do, it will be progress you can feel in record time.”
MoDOT crews have already been working on what will be the state’s largest-ever highway construction program. Missouri will spend $7.3 billion for 866 projects over the next five years. In 2005, that meant more than 1,000 highway work zones.
“There is no doubt, 2006 will be even bigger,” Rahn said.
Rahn’s address was not all good news, however. He said in 2010 the program’s construction budget is scheduled to drop from $1.4 billion to $805 million per year.
“The sun is shining on transportation in Missouri, but there are storm clouds on the horizon,” Rahn said. “Good old Missouri common sense says that you fix the roof when the sun is shining, not once it starts raining. It is imperative that we initiate a discussion about future transportation investments.”
Those future investments include additional repairs needed for Interstate 70, the state’s primary east-west highway. Rahn said portions of I-70, built to last 20 years, are nearly 50 years old.
“By 2030, the entire length of I-70 will be stop-and-go traffic and I-44 is just ten years behind,” he said. “I-70 needs to be rebuilt from the ground up and needs to be expanded to accommodate ever-growing traffic and the ever-larger vehicles using it.”