Rough road ... who's to blame?

Street ownership determines who, when roads in capital get fixed

Work has been steady as progress continues on this project on East McCarty Street, one rough street that has drawn the attention of residents. Some repairs can’t be done yet because of other planned projects. Photo by Julie Smith.

By Madeleine Leroux

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Photo by Julie Smith

The state of Missouri has contracted the services of Emery Sapp & Sons to construct entrance and exit ramps to and from Missouri 179. Ramps to state highways are the responsibility of the state to maintain, as well as overpasses over state roads.

Within Jefferson City is a large network of roads and streets, but not all are under city control.

Throughout the past few weeks, the News Tribune has received many comments about roads in need of repair within the city. One of the most common complaints received was the Dix Road overpass, which is outside of the city’s scope.

Director of Public Works Roger Schwartze said the Dix Road overpass, like other overpasses in the area, is maintained by the Missouri Department of Transportation.

“In Jefferson City, any overpass on a MoDOT road is MoDOT’s,” Schwartze said.

For our list of top potholes, click here.

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him 1 year, 2 months ago

Water, freezing and thawing is to blame. Also use from traffic.

JCsleeper 1 year, 2 months ago

Mebbe JC should press MODOT to repair these overpassses.

JCsleeper 1 year, 2 months ago

MODOT should probably replace the h i l l b i l l y traffic lights at the Dix Road over pass with permanent fixtures. Only been about 45 years, they're probably gonna be there for a while.

gofish 1 year, 2 months ago

1) At Dix and Industrial the RR Crossing needs to be replaced with a concrete crossing that is level with the street. The present one is uneven and damages my car every time I drive over it. Other motorists dodge around on the right side of the lane trying to "hit" a smoother spot. Between West School, Bel Air, and St. Joseph's the volume of traffic that passes through there daily deserves better.
2) After hours, the traffic light at Dix and Industrial needs to be set to default to green on Dix, not Industrial. Most of the traffic flow through the intersection comes off of Dix and it's a pain to have to wear your brakes down stopping on a grade while no cars are even traveling on the level street, Industrial.
3) MoDoT needs to fix the overpass, AND put in dedicated right turn lanes on either side of Dix leading to 50 so that traffic flows through instead of backing up. 4) MoDoT needs to put in concrete shoulders on either side of the entrance ramps from Dix to 50 instead of patching them with gravel.
5) And last but not least, I'd like a BAR at Dix and Mo Blvd. What's a BAR you ask? It's a Big Arse Roundabout of course, with 4 lanes! Ok, so I'm joking on #5. But clearly the rest of that stretch of road is long overdue for improvements. That's the kind of transformation JC wants and needs.

JasonBourne 1 year, 2 months ago

Believe me, there are no really bad roads in JC. If you compare to the state's metro areas of StL and KC, the JC roads are overdesigned and overmaintained.

spelchek 1 year, 2 months ago

I respectfully disagree, as noted above, JC has just started to address antiquated street lights and intersections with much more to do. I think the difference between JC and the larger metro areas is JC's residents are neighbors or somehow connected to the city leaders via work, church, etc...It's hard for them to escape bad decisions or poor planning (convention center, deteriorating roads...). Metro areas lack that connectivity.

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