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Today's Poll!US 71 from KC to Joplin to become an interstate
Tuesday, September 4, 2012
JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) — A 180-mile stretch of U.S. 71 from south Kansas City to Joplin will officially become Interstate 49 on Dec. 12, much to the delight of transportation officials and cities and towns along the route.
U.S. 71 is already a divided highway with a 70 mph speed limit, but the change to an interstate meant eliminating all intersections and cross roads along the route. The Missouri Department of Transportation has awarded $63.3 million since 2009 to remove the crossings and replace them with four overpasses, nine interchanges and three outer roads.
The change is part of a long-term goal of having a direct connection from Kansas City south to New Orleans and north to Manitoba, Canada, The Kansas City Star reported (http://bit.ly/OM98jW).
“This is a tremendous opportunity,” said Michael Collins, president of the Kansas City Port Authority. “With regional, national and multinational firms that are looking for logistics centers, many times their first question is, ‘What’s the interstate connectivity?’ “
The change is also welcome in Joplin, which is still recovering from a devastating tornado in 2011.
“For Joplin to go from one interstate to two, or communities between Kansas City and Joplin to say they are now on an interstate, it really creates a sense of connectivity, which we believe will bring economic growth,” said Rob O’Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce.
Kansas City SmartPort, a nonprofit organization promoting the region as a logistics hub, is also happy about the interstate.
“Four interstates is a big deal compared to three,” said Chris Gutierrez, SmartPort president. “It opens up that whole southern region.”
Trucks make up 30 percent of the traffic on U.S. 71, which is the second busiest freight artery out of Kansas City, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation.
The federal government paid for 80 percent of most of the Missouri projects, with four projects funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
The section of highway south of Joplin is complete to Pineville, about five miles from the Arkansas border. The highway will someday connect to a bypass near Bella Vista, Ark. Missouri was prepared to build its portion of the bypass, estimated at $40 million, but Arkansas said it did not have the money for its section. The Missouri highway commission then decided to focus on the section north of Joplin.
“We do not want to build a four-lane freeway that dead-ends at the state line,” said Sean Matlock, MoDOT’s manager for the I-49 project.
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Information from: The Kansas City Star, http://www.kcstar.com
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Comments
RobHunterJohnson 8 months, 3 weeks ago
How about highway 54 or 63? Rob
JCLifer 8 months, 3 weeks ago
How about make Hwy 50 four-lane from Jefferson City to Union? That would relieve a lot of traffic from I-70.
Guess Missouri is proud to be dead last #50 in lots of things. We don't even have an interstate highway to the State Capital. What a loser hickville state!
JCLifer 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Why spend all the highway money in Kansas City and St. Louis? Branson, Springfield, and Joplin sure get more than their fair share too. Meanwhile, Central Missouri gets very little highway money and we have to try to drive on roads with J-turns, multiple round-a-bouts, dangerous at grade crossings, tri-level, 54 S-turns of death, Dix Road connectors, 179 Missouri Blvd intersections, etc.
The representatives and senator for this area must not fight very hard to make sure central Missouri gets its fair share of the pie. They roll over and let the other areas of the state get the highway money.
melbrooks 8 months, 3 weeks ago
The roundabouts and the Dix Road connector are local projects, not MoDOT projects.
These numbers are based on MoDOT's current 5-year plan called the STIP, or the State Transportation Improvement Plan and can be found at modot.org. The population figures are from each district's website. It's worthwhile to remember the St. Louis numbers are likely inflated from the new 1-70 bridge currently under construction. I don't know why SE Missouri's number is so far removed from the others--I may be missing a vital piece of information. The remainder are rather close in funding per person.
Area $/person Northwest $482 Northeast $432 Kansas City $389 Central $417 St. Louis $476 Southwest $416 Southeast $888
In order to make decision-making more about planning to meet needs and less about politics, MoDOT uses Regional Planning Commissions (RPCs) and Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) in the planning process, and prioritizes funding via that process. When it comes to money, nothing is apolitical. However, it's fair to say politics plays a much lesser role in transportation than in most other public funding situations.
JCLifer 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Mel, get your facts straight. The Dix Road connector and the East McCarty overpass roundabouts were MO-DOT projects.
Even the small amounts of funding that go through RPC and MPOs are full of politics. If you don't believe me, just ask the Holt's Summit aldermen.
However, I am talking about much bigger money/projects than that funding.
melbrooks 8 months, 3 weeks ago
The McCarty St. overpass itself was indeed a MoDOT project; however, much of the project as well as the enhancements (like steel railings with a walkway, stamped concrete retaining walls) are funded through a TDD and local participation dollars from the city and county. (Remember, the McCarty St. overpass eliminated many at-grade crossings.) The roundabouts are the result of it being less expensive to not widen the bridge for left hand turn lanes. MoDOT was trying to stretch dollars; I can't blame them for that. Most folks complain about the roundabouts on Stadium Drive, which were city projects. I think they work great; it's much better than sitting at traffic lights and paying to maintain those lights. And I think the roundabouts work well at the McCarty St. overpass. Are we so rigid we can't adjust, even if it saves considerable dollars over the life of the overpass?
The Holts Summit example is specious, but not unexpected. Holts Summit declines to pay dues to CAMPO, but expects funding priority. Not likely.
Projects (not just small ones) are prioritized within districts by the RPCs and MPOs in conjunction with MoDOT. They are then evaluated in a state-wide framework by district and area engineers. Legislators are not part of the planning process, and that is purposeful.
Sure, it's not completely insulated from influence, because every legislator has a bully pulpit. However, it's a whole lot better than most other publicly-funded endeavors, and it shows because many legislators aren't fond of MoDOT. MoDOT is independently funded, they are unable to wield much influence as a result.
JCLifer 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Instead of comparing current funding per capital of each of of the regions, how about comparing the road mile per capital of the regions? You will see the discrepancies right away. Central Missouri has been getting the shaft for years.
JCsleeper 8 months, 3 weeks ago
Doubt if any highway going through JC will ever become an interstate as long as the tri-level lives. Some serious highway reconfiguration would have to occur for this to happen.
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