MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG
Mo. Digital News
Missouri Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Mo. Digital News
MDN.ORG:
Missouri Digital News
JEFFERSON CITY - MoDot announced how it will use Amendment 3 to fix Missouri's roads.
The Smooth Roads Initiative, as it is being called, will target 2,200 miles of state-maintained roads that the Missouri Highways and Transportation Department said account for 60 percent of traffic on the state highways.
It is the first part of a three-part plan to improve Missouri's highways, which rank 3rd worst in the country according to The Road Information Program.
MoDot Spokesman Jeff Briggs said the department is going to take the next month to assess what kind of repairs each mile of the selected roads will need. He said some roads may need more reflective signs, better drawn lines or repaving.
"Between now and three years from now, the end of 2007, [the roads are] all going to be brought up to very good condition," Briggs said. "They are going to have brighter stripes, better signs and much improved visibility; as well as a smoother ride."
Amendment 3 is expected to increase the Highway Department's budget by $180 to $190 million per year, but it will not see those numbers until 2009, Briggs said. He said the department will raise the $400 million the initiative calls for with bonds backed by the Amendment 3 revenue.
This is the first initiative proposed by the Highway Department since Amendment 3 passed by a nearly 4-to-1 margin last week.
The next part of the plan is to accelerate a five-year construction program that had already began. The third part is to talk to local officials and find out which state-maintained roads within cities or towns need repairs most.
"This a very aggresive project and we're going to do it in a very short amount of time," Brigg said.