With all of the recent, and one might suppose perpetual, news regarding road and bridge infrastructure funding, one state is attempting to maintain and improve its own roads and bridges while anticipating the curtailed resources with which it will be able to do so.
The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) recently outlined its “325 System,” which tasks MoDOT to focus its resources on a fraction of the state’s 34,000-mile state highway system. In question are 8,000 miles that makes up what is being categorized as “primary” roads, i.e. the highways that connect larger cities throughout the state.
A proactive sally against anticipatedly dried coffers, the 325 System will use MDOT’s annual construction budget—expected to crunch down to $325 million by 2017—to keep good state of repair on the primary throughways with work including overlays and bridge replacements. Further enhancements, such as new interchanges and road widening, are not part of the picture.
The remaining 26,000-some miles of Missouri roads will receive limited routine maintenance, a decision that is expected to tax MoDOT crews who, while they will certainly do their best, will be limited to pothole repair, patchwork, and sealing existing bridge decks. The expected result is that over time, and not much of it, these roads and bridges will deterioriate.
Of the tough decision, MoDOT director Dave Nichols said, "We need at least $485 million to maintain roads and bridges in the condition they are today, so facing a $325 million budget means making some tough choices. In addition, Missouri won't be able to match federal funds in 2017, which provides a $4 to $1 investment. That revenue will be lost to other states. We won't be able to provide the same level of service as we have in the past. This is not a course of action we want to take, but it's one that insufficient funding forces us to take."
