MoDOT Expressing Optimism About The Future

The State Transportation Department’s legislative liason says gone are the days when lawmakers and MoDOT seemed to have an adversarial relationship, and that legislators now seem to really like the road agency. Jay Wunderlich tells Highway Commissioners that the efforts they have made – a new director and asking for more public feedback in the project decision-making process – have made a difference. He says there seems to be good feedback between lawmakers and the Department. Wunderlich says MoDOT’s number one legislative priority, enactment of a primary seatbelt law, seems to be moving along. It needs one more passage in the Senate to be sent to the House, and if all goes well, could be passed and signed by the Governor this year. Wunderlich says the national legislative efforts also seem to be doing well. He believes Congress will pass a new highway bill with more than what was originally expected.