Keith: MoDOT reductions moving toward construction goal

The Missouri Transportation Department's plan to cut its workforce, property and equipment appears to be moving more quickly than expected toward its March 31, 2013, goal, Director Kevin Keith told the Highways and Transportation Commission in Springfield on Wednesday.

The six-member commission OK'd the "Bolder Five-Year Direction" plan in June, approving the proposal by Keith and other MoDOT administrators to reduce the department's staff by 1,200 employees, close 131 facilities and dispose of more than 740 pieces of equipment, like trucks and road-graders.

At the end of September, Keith reported, MoDOT had reduced its staff by 667 positions since Feb. 28, 2010 - leaving 529 jobs, statewide, still to go in the next 18 months.

"We are more than halfway to our goal in less than half of the anticipated time we allowed for the downsizing process," Keith and his staff reported in a 12-page printed update of the plan's progress.