The Reporter newspaper, Camdenton Missouri

The Reporter covers Miller, Morgan and Camden County in Central Missouri's Lake of the Ozarks and is published once per week on Wednesdays.

Published January 28, 2015

MoDOT: some roads will deteriorate

By Jeff Thompson
LAKE OF THE OZARKS - The Missouri Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) plan to maintain state highways under a reduced budget will focus on what it considers “primary roads” that connect cities across the state, including lake area Highways 54 and 5.

The plan was recently presented to the Missouri Highway and Transportation Committee which is expected to act on the proposal at its Feb. 4 meeting.

MoDOT’s “Tough Choices Ahead” plan will take aim at approximately 8,000 miles of Missouri's 34,000-mile state highway system.

“The 8,000 miles make up the state’s primary roads and are the highways that connect cities across the state,” a MoDOT spokesman said.

According to Central District MoDOT Engineer Bob Lynch, lake area primary roads will include Highway 54, Highway 5, Highway 42 and Route 7.

Also included are Hwy 52 in Morgan County and Hwy 17 in Miller County.

Lynch said the classification of “primary roads” is not necessarily based on traffic counts but on interconnectivity across the state.

The state agency claims to be facing a budget challenge after losing a ballot issue last year which would have increased taxes, something the voters of Missouri soundly rejected.

MoDOT will use its smaller annual construction budget - which is expected to drop to $325 million in 2017 - to keep these primary roads in “good condition” with maintenance and rehabilitation work such as overlays and bridge replacements, the spokesman stated.

However, enhancements on these “primary roads” such as interchange improvements or road widening will not be possible, MoDOT said.

“The remaining miles of roads and bridges will make up the state's supplementary system and will receive only limited routine maintenance,” the spokesman said. “That means MoDOT crews will do the best they can to maintain roads and bridges on the supplemental system with internal resources.”

The “limited routine maintenance” will include filling potholes, patching pavement and flushing and sealing bridge decks, but without more money, MoDOT says these repairs will not be enough and “with only limited routine maintenance, however, these roads will deteriorate.”

The threat from MoDOT goes even further. Supplementary roads will become a patchwork of repairs, heavy loads on Missouri bridges will be limited and some bridges could be closed indefinitely.

MoDOT Director Dave Nichols said a smaller budget means a sharper - albeit limited - focus.

“We need at least $485 million to maintain roads and bridges in the condition they are today, so facing a $325 million budget means making some tough choices,” Nichols said. “In addition, Missouri won’t be able to match federal funds in 2017, which provides a $4 to $1 investment. That revenue will be lost to other states.”

Nichols said MoDOT has done all it can to put as much money as possible toward roads and bridges.

“We’ve reduced staff, facilities and equipment and directed the savings to roads and bridges,” Nichols said. “Without additional funding, though, we’re now faced with having to reduce services as well.”

For more information go online to MoDOT's Tough Choices Ahead website, www.modot.org/toughchoicesahead.