The Missouri Department of Transportation will resurface Route F in response to numerous requests from affected landowners in 2014. Among other projects, the DOT will also do the Isadora Bridge on Route 46 as well as the Platte River Bridge just east of Sheridan in 2016.
Route F has become one of the most traveled roads in the county despite its lettered status. Many people live in Blockton and work in Maryville; there is also frequent truck traffic from Ravenwood to Ringgold and Taylor Counties; both counties utilize the Ravenwood rock quarry.
A few years ago, the DOT had resurfaced Route F using an experimental treatment that turned out to be inadequate. It lasted only a few months; when the snow plows came to plow snow off, it took the experimental surface off with it. For this project, the DOT will be going back to the tried and true hot mix.
Other projects that will be done include resurfacing of Route 46 this year from 136 in Nodaway County to 169 in Worth County, pavement improvements to YY and D in 2014, pavement sealing for routes O, U, DD, E, K, Y, H, J, and B this year, and patching of routes E, K, Y, H, J, B, Z, 46, and 246 for this year. Work on resurfacing Route C from Allendale to Albany has been completed.
Mike Rinehart of the DOT came to the Worth County Fairgrounds Tuesday evening to deliver the news to interested patrons. He said that funding for the DOT was an ongoing issue; there has been no fuel tax increase for the DOT in the last 20 years while the prices of some ingredients that they use have doubled and tripled during that same time frame.
As a result of ongoing budget cuts by Washington over the last two decades, money is getting harder and harder to come by even as the need for DOT’s services is getting greater. Sterling Hopkins of MFA said that it has gotten to the point where it is dangerous to travel certain parts of Route F and that people are taking roundabout routes to get to where they are going and that temporary culvert replacements by the DOT are lasting as little as three weeks.
Rinehart said that he takes feedback at meetings like Tuesday’s and from the Missouri On the Move website and incorporates comments into long-range plans for road work. He said that there was a lot of interest in roads and bridges in Missouri; he said that their feedback website had gotten 3,000 responses so far. “I hear all the time from people who want us to do more with lettered roads,” said Rinehart.
Missouri is 18th in the nation in population, but 7th in the nation in highways; they have more miles in highways than Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas combined. Despite this, the latter three states get $1.4 billion to spend on their roads while Missouri only gets $700 million annually.
Missouri is 6th in bridges; there are over 2,200 deficient bridges in the state. There are also 14 public ports which the DOT is responsible as well. There are 4 million tons of goods being shipped on barges traveling on Missouri waterways. Kansas City and St. Louis have the 2nd and 3rd largest rail hubs in the country respectively.
Rinehart said that the DOT had already made massive cuts to its operation and is operating as inexpensively as possible. They reduced their staff by 1,200 people and their buildings by 131 and eliminated 400-700 pieces of equipment. They have achieved $355 million in cost savings over the last two years, well ahead of their target.
In addition, their projects are coming in at 4% under budget and their Safe & Sound Program was completed a year and a half ahead of schedule. 95% of their projects have been done on time or early.
However, there are continued funding pressures on the DOT. Congress continues to drag its feet on the sequester, which will mean less and less money for the DOT in the future. Fuel revenues are less than expected and are predicted to continue to decline because of ever-increasing MPG standards for new cars. In fact, Rinehart said that some states were starting to get away from fuel taxes as a means of funding their transportation departments. Additionally, the Missouri River flooding from two years ago cost the DOT $18 million to fix. So despite all the ongoing cuts, Rinehart said that the DOT was not keeping up with state needs.
One possible solution was a 1 cent sales tax; however, it was filibustered by the Missouri Senate and will not be on the ballot in 2014 absent an initiative petition. The challenge will be to fight the perception that it will benefit I-35 and 70.
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