The State Transportation Department holds a news conference on the side of a Cole County highway to celebrate the completion of the Smooth Roads Initiative – the challenge to overhaul 2,200 miles of highway by the end of 2006. That challenge was issued by Governor Matt Blunt during his 2006 State of the State Address. MoDOT Director Pete Rahn told the Governor, today, that the challenge has been accepted and completed on time. The Smooth Roads Initiative was a major component of a plan developed after Missourians overwhelmingly approved Amendment 3 in November of 2004.