Lawmakers designate 'Phyllis Shelley' highway

If Gov. Jay Nixon signs any one of three bills, an eight-mile stretch of U.S. 50 in Moniteau County will be named for Phyllis D. Shelley,  of California. The driver for the Mid-Missouri Ambulance District was killed in an accident on Dec. 14, 1987.
At the time of her death, officials said she appeared to be the first ambulance employee killed in the line of duty in Missouri history.
Naming a portion of U.S. 50 in Shelley's honor comes nearly 29 years after she was killed and more than 15 years after the National EMS Memorial added her name to its "Tree of Life Memorial."
Shelley was 41 when the ambulance she was driving went out of control on a snow-covered U.S. 50, about three miles west of California, and overturned.
Because of equipment problems when the emergency run began, Shelley wasn't wearing a seat belt and was thrown from the ambulance.
She and a co-worker were responding to an accident about four miles west of town when the accident happened about 9 a.m. that Monday. The co-worker was using her seat belt and received only minor injuries in the accident.
The roads were clear when Shelley went to work at 6 a.m. But by the time of the accident, an unpredicted storm had dropped at least 4 inches of snow.
Since all three bills were part of more than 100 measures passed in the last two weeks of the legislative session, they were sent to Nixon last week as a group. He has until mid-July to sign or veto them.
All three bills began in the Senate and go into effect Aug. 28 with Nixon's approval.
Language naming U.S. 50 in Moniteau County for Shelley was added to all three bills in the House.
But the language is the same in all three measures: "The portion of U.S. Highway 50 from County Line Road continuing west to Mockingbird Road in Moniteau County shall be designated as the 'Phyllis D. Shelley Memorial Highway'.'"
The new law also would require the state Transportation department to "erect and maintain appropriate signs designating such highway, with costs to be paid for by private donation."