Thu, Dec 04 2008
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Published July 04, 2008 09:40 pm - The new five-year transportation construction program recently approved by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has about $225 million for projects in Southwest Missouri. Missouri highway officials release five-year project list By Wally Kennedy
wkennedy@joplinglobe.com The new five-year transportation construction program recently approved by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission has about $225 million for projects in Southwest Missouri. It includes widening of East Seventh Street from Duquesne Road to Route 249 from two lanes to five lanes, and the reconstruction of the interchange at Interstate 44 and Route 39 in Mount Vernon. The 2009-2013 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program lists all transportation projects planned by state and regional planning agencies from July 1, 2008, through June 30, 2013. It totals $5.8 billion. The spending plan includes $300 million in new construction projects because lengthened bond terms and lower than expected interest rates provided additional Amendment 3 bonding capacity. “Even though it’s great news to be able to pursue this additional work, we can’t overlook that in this program the Amendment 3 bond proceeds are used up, and our state transportation program goes back to critically low spending levels,” said Pete Rahn, director of MoDOT. “The program that’s been approved marks the shift from having the opportunity to build new projects to barely maintaining what we have,” he said. Missouri moves from a construction program averaging $1.23 billion annually to a construction program of about $575 million in 2013. Compounding that is an expected decline in federal revenue and rising fuel and construction costs. Scott Bachman, the department’s planning manager for Southwest Missouri, said, “Future funding is uncertain to say the least.’’ The department is earmarking about $9 million for the widening of East Seventh Street from Duquesne Road to Highway 249, also known as the Range Line Bypass. Bachman said work to widen the two-lane road to five lanes will begin in 2010. Also in 2010, the department will reconstruct the interchange at Interstate 44 and Highway 39 in Mount Vernon. That project will cost $10 million, Bachman said. Highway 32, east of Stockton, will be realigned to take out a couple of curves. The cost in 2009 should be $2.3 million. Bachman said, “People in the Stockton area are anxious to have these done.’’ The district office also has secured part of the new Amendment 3 money to construct passing lanes on Route 60 from Monett to Republic. The cost in 2011 should be $23 million, Bachman said. Next year, a key project will be the Wolf Den area on U.S. Highway 71 in McDonald County, where residents had expressed safety concerns. Said Bachman: “Our district is trying to develop a solution that is effective and satisfactory to community members.’’ 
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