Amendment
3 Funding
To
Build Smoother Roads
JEFFERSON CITY - Funding from passage of Amendment 3 will provide
thousands of miles of smooth roads on Missouri's most heavily
traveled highways, officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation
announced today.
MoDOT
unveiled the Smooth Roads Initiative, a plan to provide 2,200
miles of smoother pavement, brighter road markings and other safety
improvements in three years. The initiative is the first
part of a three-part plan to use Amendment 3 funds to improve
the state's highway system. A map specifying the selected
roads was included in the announcement.
"Missourians
spoke loud and clear when they voted for Amendment 3," said MoDOT
Director Pete Rahn. "By an almost four-to-one margin, they
said they're not happy with current road conditions, and they
want them fixed. Starting today, that's just what we're
going to do."
While
a small percentage, the 2,200 highway miles account for 60 percent
of all traffic on the state system. About 86 percent of
Missouri's population lives within 10 miles of one of the selected
roads. "We'll focus first on the highways that benefit
the most people," Rahn said.
Improvements
will include better pavement for a smoother drive, as well as
brighter stripes and signs, reflective pavement markers separating
lanes, improved shoulders with rumble strips, and safer guardrails.
"Time and time again, our customers tell us the most important
thing we can do is make our roads smoother and easier to drive,"
said MoDOT Chief Engineer Kevin Keith. "That's the focus
of this program."
MoDOT
will invest about $400 million in this initiative, which will
be financed by bonds backed by Amendment 3 revenue.
In
addition to the Smooth Roads Initiative, MoDOT will also accelerate
projects already planned in its five-year construction program,
as well as determine new major projects that can be completed.
Specifics will be announced in coming months, after the department
has worked with local officials to determine the state's highest
priorities.
Please
visit MoDOT's web site -- www.modot.org
-- for more details on the Smooth Roads Initiative and other
planned Amendment 3 improvements, including a map showing the
2,200 miles of selected roads.
###
Editor's
note: For an electronic version of the Smooth Roads
Initiative map suitable for publication, please contact MoDOT
Public Affairs at 573-751-2840.
Amendment
3 Road Sign (100 kbs, 1 page)
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