Posted on 01/26/2005 6:20:55 PM PST by o_zarkman44
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Missouri Highways. Safety for All?
MoDot is in the process of identifying highway improvements for the coming decade. They have their job cut out for them. Missouri has some of the worst highways in the nation. Anyone who travels to any of our neighboring states knows what I am talking about. It is great to see substantial progress on highways in St Louis and Kansas City. I know they were in need of improvements too. But what about the rest of Missouri?
Interstate 70 has become rough and congested. There are ideas put forward to widen I-70 to three lanes. Of course that takes money. Lots of money. Toll roads are being floated as a way to raise money. Sounds good in some ways. But what about the money the state already has to work with? To me it looks like the most substantial portion of the money once again has gone to Kansas City and St Louis. I know they need to be safe to get to the Stadiums to watch professional ball sports and go shopping. But I feel terribly unsafe on the highways in most other areas of the state which my life depends upon..
US 50, known to many as "death alley" is a narrow, 2 lane highway that carrys traffic from Sedalia through Jefferson City. West of Sedalia to Kansas City, the four lane improvements have been finished for years. And there is about a fifteen mile stretch of US 50 through Jefferson City that has been upgraded to four lane. But other than those stretches, US Highway 50 is obsolete for the daily volume it is forced to carry. It is not uncommon to average 40 to 45 MPH in a 60 MPH zone for 15 miles because of slow traffic, including trucks. With few places to pass it is not uncommon to have a mile long line of traffic congestion behind one vehicle. This pace causes impatience, which leads to many tragic accidents and death too many times a year.
Problem with US 50 is that the highway was slated to be developed into a 4 lane highway over THIRTY YEARS AGO. With the exception of a few improvements in Jefferson City over the last 10 years, Highway 50 still has inadequate shoulders, no left turn lanes, and massive traffic delays that were promised to be addressed. The only time we hear about PLANS for possible improvements West of Jefferson City, is when MoDOT is pushing for us support for a tax increase. We remember what MODOT promised us back in the early 1990's when we gave them a tax increase. They failed to deliver as promised. Except in St Louis and Kansas City. Otherwise they abandoned many of us. And it will take a long time and a lot of progress to prove they are worthy of more money, before we accept their apology for deceiving us.
Rural Missourians deserve to have safe highways just the same as Urban Missourians. But when the new plans for the next decade are being publicized, I read nothing into the plan that makes MY road safer, that I and My Family travel on when we go to work or go shopping. I see little condolence from MoDOT to the families who have lost husbands, wives, and children because of wrecks.. I know in Moniteau County and California Missouri, which is 20 miles West of Jefferson City, there is not one person who has not known someone who has died on US Highway 50. The crosses along the highway as memorials to the dead are the proof that "Death Alley" is indeed a danger.
I say it is time for MODOT to realize that everything related to transportation in Missouri does not revolve around improving Interstate 70. Upgrading US 50 to four lane could relieve a lot of the traffic pressure on Interstate 70. Highway improvements can improve our economy and certainly the efficiency of our commute as well. And upgrading US Highway 50 could certainly relieve some of the pressure I feel when I drive to Jefferson City, or when my wife travels the same highway. When it comes to traffic safety, we also count in rural Missouri and expect to see real progress very soon. Our lives are counting on you Missouri Department of Transportation.
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