New Funding to Target Pavement Upgrades for Low Volume Routes

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NEMO RPC-New funding has been pledged to address pavement conditions on some of Missouri’s lesser traveled state routes, and as the above chart shows, it couldn’t have come at a better time for the NEMO RPC region. Just one of the region’s six counties currently meets the state’s target of 70% good pavement on its state roads that handle less the 400 average daily traffic.

Instead the region’s motorist must navigate lettered routes in the worst state of repair, a condition that has only worsened since it was brought to light with MoDOT and the state highway commission. Conditions deteriorated in four of the six counties in NEMO RPC, including the worst, Schuyler County, which saw its percentage of good rated pavement fall from 36% to just 32%. Scotland County didn’t fair much better, with conditions worsening from 49% to just 37% good. Adair and Clark counties both had 43% good rated pavement in 2021, which for the latter was actually a 2% improvement from 2019. Lewis County saw conditions decline from 63% to 60% good in 2021. Knox County remained unchanged at 74% good and remained the lone county in the RPC to exceed the state target goal of 70% good.

Fortunately, the state legislature approved $100 million in general revenue to help address the issue, on top of the MoDOT Asset Management Deficit Program, that has earmarked an addition $25 million to rectify the lagging pavement conditions.

MoDOT has tentatively scheduled pavement projects for some of the worst lettered routes in the region utilizing the deficit management funds, targeting improvements for routes B and U in Scotland County; A, H and EE in Clark County; A and Z in Lewis County, Route K and MO 149 in Adair County as well as MO 156 in both Adair and Knox counties.

Some work has already been completed with other projects starting this week. Weather permitting, the week of July 5, contractor crews were set to start resurfacing operations on Route U in Clark/ Scotland County from U.S. Route 136 in Scotland County to Rt. A in Clark County, 1.9 miles south of Wyaconda. The total length of improvement is 15.4 miles. This project is scheduled to be completed by early August.

This contract includes two additional resurfacing projects: Adair/Macon County, Missouri Route 149 – Resurface from Missouri Route 6 to Missouri Route 11 and from Missouri Route 11 to Route J in Goldsberry (23.4 total miles:; and Clark/Lewis County, Route A – Resurface from U.S. Route 136 in Clark County to Route E in Williamstown in Lewis County (19.6 total miles).

The contract was awarded last fall to W.L. Miller Company of Hamilton, Illinois in the amount of $4,021,555.

Plans are not yet finalized for where the additional revenue approved by lawmakers will be spent, but at least a dozen other lettered routes in the region are being considered, including a number of routes in Schuyler, Scotland and Adair counties.