MoDOT cuts approved

Just five weeks after it was introduced to the public and the six-member Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, commissioners on Wednesday unanimously approved a proposal to "right-size" the state Transportation Department.

MoDOT Director Kevin Keith told commissioners the plan cuts 1,200 positions from where MoDOT was last year - cutting the program delivery staff by 27 percent, the administrative support staff by 31 percent and operations staff by 12 percent.

"Of that 1,200 employees, the largest place impacted by the reduction in personnel is the Jefferson City area," he said.

"It's actually a little over 300 of those 1,200 folks being reduced from a combination of our Central District and our Central Office."