Transportation Archives - Page 3 of 161

State racks up millions in unpaid bills owed to Amtrak

January 28, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Daily Missouri River Runner service from St. Louis to Kansas City continues chugging along but if the state doesn’t start paying its bills, the trips could get derailed. During a Missouri House Budget Committee hearing, MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says Missouri owes the company more than $6.5 million in unpaid bills and about $12 million for its service contract this year. He’s requesting more money from the Legislature to help pay off the debt.

State racks up millions in unpaid bills owed to Amtrak

“Actually, it is an embarrassment,” says McKenna. “We have to deal with these folks at the federal level. We’re not paying our bill. They’ve been giving us a pass. They’re now charging interest on the arrearage.”

Amtrak is charging 12% interest on what Missouri owed last year.

“To retain the service, is a $12 million annual bill. We’re currently paying 9 (million dollars) a year and it’s an arrearage that’s growing,” says McKenna.

“How did it get to that point in the first place,” asks Representative Don Mayhew, R-Crocker.

“The requests to fund the operating costs have not been granted through the budget process annually,” says McKenna.

“And that started how long ago,” asks Mayhew.

“2010,” says McKenna.

McKenna tells Mayhew the debt could endanger the service’s future.

Some lawmakers, including Representative Deb Lavender, D-Kirkwood, says the River Runner plays an important role in Missouri’s tourism. The line stops in Lavender’s hometown of Kirkwood, as well as Hermann and Sedalia. All three are tourism points.

The Missouri Legislature is in full swing with its fiscal year 2021 budget work.

Winter weather advisories will cover most of Missouri on Thursday into Friday (AUDIO)

January 23, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) will be issuing multiple winter weather advisories on Thursday afternoon and evening, that will impact almost all of Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill says the heaviest snow on Thursday will be in the Moberly and Macon areas (January 23, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter)

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Spencer Mell is urging you to slow down on the road.

“Roads across, especially across northern Missouri this afternoon, are already snow-covered,” Mell says. “And it really doesn’t take much, we’ve seen a lot of accidents already out there.”

Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN (AM 1360) and Chillicothe affiliate KCHI (FM 102.5) report dozens of school districts across northwest Missouri canceled classes today. Many of them have been closed all week.

The winter weather advisory for northern Missouri will take effect at 3 p.m. The heaviest band of snow will impact towns like Moberly, Macon, Boonville, Fayette, and Marshall, where four to six additional inches is possible.

“As we get into this evening, the temperatures are going to cool down out there and we will see a band of heavier snow set up in that area,” says Mell.

As for the Kansas City metro over to west-central Missouri’s Sedalia, NWS meteorologist Mell expects more snow to fall tonight.

“So we’re probably looking at more of the 8 to 10 p.m. time frame before we really start to see the snow stick in the Kansas City area,” Mell says.

In mid-Missouri, Mell says snow is expected to start falling again at about 10 p.m. in Jefferson City and Columbia. Two to four inches of additional snow is expected.

In St. Louis, the NWS office there says light snow and snow will change to all snow during tonight’s evening rush hour. The NWS says it will reduce visibility for St. Louis-area motorists, and potentially create snow-covered road conditions. About an inch of snow is expected.

Snow will also impact the Ozarks tonight into Friday. The I-44 corridor between Lebanon, Waynesville and Rolla should see two to three inches.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Spencer Mell, which was recorded on January 23, 2020:

MoDOT head calls agency’s turnover rate ‘a crisis’

January 23, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Department of Transportation Director Patrick McKenna says MoDOT is experiencing a historic 13% annual turnover rate. During a Missouri House subcommittee budget hearing Wednesday, McKenna says he expects well over 700 employees could leave during the current fiscal year.

MODOT Director Patrick McKenna

“We do consider that a crisis because we need skilled and trained people and professionals to be out providing the services throughout,” says McKenna. “We recognize that we’re not alone in state government with this and in fact, sometimes when you look at the numbers of the Department of Transportation relative to other agencies, you might think we don’t have a problem.”

According to MoDOT, employee turnover could potentially reach 15% in FY20 based on over 190 employees leaving MoDOT in the first quarter of FY20.

McKenna says the turnover rate is generational, but indicates pay is also part of the problem.

“Kansas City – we have a turnover of nearly 200 professionals a year going on,” says McKenna. “In St. Louis – over 150. That’s an extraordinary load.”

In FY17, 554 workers left the department through termination, retirement or voluntarily. The following year, the agency had 611 employees depart. In FY19,
679 workers did.

“Just the challenge of replacing those folks and getting them trained and ready to go is extraordinary,” says McKenna. “But we also calculate the cost of that turnover to the taxpayers – both the hard and soft costs, as well as leave payouts. It well exceeds 30 million dollars a year.”

MoDOT estimates that overall turnover cost the Department $36.9 million in FY19 stemming from $2.1 million in hard costs (e.g., employee labor to fill the job, and related costs such as advertising, drug testing, background checks, and physicals); $2.2 million from leave payouts following all separations; and $32.6 million in soft costs (e.g. loss of productivity, onboarding, rework, retraining, and distraction of supervisor and co-workers).

In FY19, MoDOT filled 895 maintenance positions and 541 non-maintenance positions. At this time, MoDOT employs 718 Maintenance Workers (average salary of $31,742), 270 Intermediate Maintenance Workers (average salary of $34,017), 1069 Senior Maintenance Workers (average salary of $37,693), 418 Maintenance Crew Leaders (average salary of $40,967), 69 Assistant Maintenance Supervisors (average salary of $45,084), 170 Maintenance Supervisors (average salary of $50,059). These six positions account for over 50 percent of our total salaried workforce.

Winter weather advisory impacting much of Missouri, including Legislature

January 22, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of Missouri.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter weather advisory for much of Missouri (January 22, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter)

Wednesday and Wednesday night’s heaviest snowfall will be across northern Missouri, with towns like Maryville, Bethany and Trenton expected to receive three to four inches.

Reporter Jeremy Shields at Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN reports there has been snow, blowing snow and sleet in northwest Missouri this morning.

Reporter Tom Tingerthal at Missourinet Chillicothe affiliate KCHI reports there is already about an inch-and-a-half of snow on the ground there, as of this afternoon. Tingerthal also notes many school districts across northwest Missouri have not been in session this week. Classes are expected to be canceled on Thursday as well, due to the winter storm.

Towns located near and along the I-70 corridor should see one to three inches of snow. They include Kansas City, Clinton, Sedalia and Columbia.

The NWS warns hazardous driving conditions will continue into this evening, and that untreated and rural roads will be very slick.

The NWS is urging you to slow down, and to give yourself extra time on the road.

The snow is also impacting legislative work at the Missouri Capitol.

The Missouri Senate has adjourned until next week. Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, tweeted today, urging lawmakers and residents to stay safe as they travel to every corner in the state.

The House will also not be in session on Thursday. Speaker Elijah Haahr, R-Springfield, tells Missourinet they will have a technical session, which simply requires one member to gavel-in and out.

Snow-related crashes close westbound I-70 near mid-Missouri’s Rocheport (AUDIO)

January 20, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) says the highest snow totals from Monday’s winter storm extend from the Kansas City suburb of Lee’s Summit to Sedalia.

The National Weather Service is urging motorists to slow down in the snow (January 20, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter page)

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Sarah Adkins says while snow is ending north of the Missouri River, it’s still snowing in many locations across western, west-central and mid-Missouri.

“We’re seeing the Kansas City area over to Warrensburg and Sedalia into Columbia, Jefferson City and again down into the Lake of the Ozarks and over west in Clinton,” Adkins says.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol also says highways in Jackson, Clay and Platte counties in the Kansas City metro have been slick, because of snow. Blowing snow has also been causing visibility issues.

Meantime, the Highway Patrol says about a dozen vehicles are involved in several snow-related crashes on westbound I-70 near mid-Missouri’s Rocheport. Several tractor trailers are involved, and westbound I-70 is closed there.

The I-70 Rocheport bridge is heavily-traveled. U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, has said more than 12 million vehicles cross the bridge annually, including three million trucks.

Rocheport is just west of Columbia.

As for Adkins, she’s urging motorists to slow down and to give themselves extra time.

“It is accumulating on the roadways and that is going to make them slick,” says Adkins. “So while we don’t anticipate multiple inches of snow, still take it easy. It’s going to be slick.”

Some areas have received an inch of snowfall. Missouri state troopers are urging you to stay focused on the road.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Sarah Adkins, which was recorded on January 20, 2020:

KMRN: Five tractor trailers jackknifed Friday on icy I-35 in northwest Missouri (AUDIO)

January 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Law enforcement officials in northern Missouri’s Harrison County are asking residents and travelers to stay off the roads there, until heavy freezing rain and sleet stops.

A Missouri state trooper assists a motorist who slid off the road in mid-Missouri on January 17, 2020 (photo courtesy of MSHP Troop F Twitter)

National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Andy Bailey notes heavily-traveled I-35 runs through Harrison County.

“Lots of slide offs, lots of accidents there and Harrison County has actually put out a request for people not to travel,” Bailey says.

Harrison County is located on the Missouri-Iowa border. Impacted towns include Bethany, Brooklyn and Gilman City.

The freezing rain also caused conditions to deteriorate Friday morning on I-35 between Cameron and Kearney. Reporter Jeremy Shields from Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN (AM 1360) reports he saw five tractor trailers jackknife this morning in that area. Shields says truck drivers struggled in the ice.

The NWS warns that road conditions across northern Missouri will be treacherous throughout the afternoon, because of heavy freezing rain and sleet. Bailey is urging motorists to stay off the road, if possible.

“If it is still snowing in northeast Missouri, that will probably change in the coming hours as that warm air overspreads the area turning things over to freezing rain up there,” says Bailey.

Freezing rain has also been happening in Trenton today.

As for mid-Missouri, Bailey says temperatures in Jefferson City and Columbia will stay at or below freezing until about 5 p.m., when they are expected to go above freezing. He emphasizes that one degree is critical.

Ice has been reported across central Missouri today, including Jefferson City, Columbia and Boonville.

Bailey also says overpasses and side streets were problematic earlier today in the Kansas City metro. A Lee’s Summit fire truck overturned this morning.

Meantime, the National Weather Service (NWS) in Springfield has issued a flood watch through Saturday morning, across the Ozarks. Impacted towns include Springfield, Branson and Lebanon.

More than an inch of additional rainfall is possible tonight, into Saturday.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Andy Bailey, which was recorded on January 17, 2020:

MoDOT activates full response for winter storm

January 17, 2020 By Alisa Nelson

Missouri Transportation Department crews will be out in full force today statewide to battle road conditions from a winter storm system. Todd Miller with MoDOT says plow drivers have been preparing for bad weather and will be working hard during the winter front.

A Missouri Department of Transportation snow plow (2018 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

“We have over 1,500 plow trucks and we have almost 3,400 operators to operate those plow trucks. We can operate them in 12 hours shifts for a 24 hour response to this event,” he says.

Miller says the weather event will be challenging for road crews and drivers need to travel very carefully.

“It is going to switch from snow to freezing rain. Some chemicals we have down may not last,” he says. “You can’t be everywhere at once. We have 77,000 lane miles of roads that we take care of.”

The system is expected to move from southwest to northeast Missouri, bringing snow and ice to northern, west-central, western and southwest Missouri.

Check out MoDOT’s traveler information map for the latest road conditions.

Poplar Bluff, Sedalia, Bloomfield, Columbia and Wentzville highlighted in Missouri State of State (AUDIO)

January 17, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor says more than 40,000 new jobs have been created since he took office in June 2018 and that the state’s 3.1 percent unemployment rate is at a historic low.

North Carolina-based Nucor is building a $400 million steel rebar manufacturing plant in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia (August 2019 file photo courtesy of Nucor)

During this week’s State of the State Address, Governor Mike Parson (R) emphasized the success of Missouri’s economy, and took the opportunity to highlight rural Missouri towns that are seeing capital investment.

Parson tells state lawmakers that big cities aren’t the only ones generating new jobs.

“Aurora Organic Dairy opened a new processing plant in Columbia, creating over 100 new jobs,” Parson says. “And Purina invested $115 million to expand in Bloomfield, Missouri.”

Bloomfield, a southeast Missouri town of about 1,900, is north of Dexter. Parson traveled there in September to tour the Nestle Purina plant, which makes Tidy Cats brand cat litter.

The plant’s expansion is creating about 30 new jobs, and the state Department of Economic Development (DED) says the expansion is adding a 110,000 square foot processing and packaging facility.

Parson met with Nestle CEO Mark Schneider in Switzerland in June, during his first European trade mission. The governor has noted that Nestle employs more than 3,500 Missourians in Bloomfield, Chesterfield, Earth City, Gray Summit, St. Joseph, St. Louis and Trenton.

During Wednesday’s State of the State, Governor Parson also announced that North Carolina-based Nucor Steel is close to starting production at its $400 million steel mill in Sedalia. Parson also announced that gasoline engine manufacturer Briggs and Stratton is creating 130 new jobs in southeast Missouri’s Poplar Bluff.

State DED Director Rob Dixon praises the news.

“These are companies that are international companies that are looking at Missouri and looking at rural Missouri in particular because of the strength of our workforce, the quality of the people that live here,” says Dixon.

The steel mill in west-central Missouri’s Sedalia is one of the largest projects Missouri has landed in the past decade. The average salary for a Nucor steelworker will be $65,000.

The governor says the average salary for the 130 new jobs at Briggs and Stratton in Poplar Bluff will be $36,531. The company is investing $15 million in the expansion.

Briggs and Stratton is already one of the largest employers in Poplar Bluff, according to the Chamber of Commerce there.

The governor also discussed the eastern Missouri town of Wentzville, during State of the State.

Parson says the decision by General Motors (GM) to invest $1.5 billion into its plant in Wentzville represents one of the largest single-project investments from the private sector in Missouri. Director Dixon tells Missourinet that GM’s Wentzville plant supports about 12,000 jobs across Missouri.

“We secured the long-term viability of that plant in Wentzville. That benefits not just Wentzville, but the entire state,” Dixon says.

DED says out of Missouri’s 227 automotive suppliers, 178 supply GM.

The Wentzville plant produces the GMC Canyon and the Chevrolet Colorado. About 4,600 employees work there.

Wentzville, which is known as the “Crossroads of the Nation”, is one of Missouri’s fastest-growing cities. It sits on I-70 in St. Charles County.

Its current population is about 41,000. The city’s website notes Wentzville’s population jumped from 6,896 in 2000 to 29,070 in the 2010 census.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and State Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon, which was recorded on January 15, 2020 at the Statehouse in Jefferson City:

National Weather Service warns Friday’s commute will be hazardous across much of Missouri (AUDIO)

January 16, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued a winter weather advisory for northern, west-central, western and southwest Missouri.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill has updated their forecast for January 17, 2020 (map courtesy of NWS Pleasant Hill Twitter)

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Scott Blair says Kansas City, St. Joseph, Sedalia, Columbia and Jefferson City will see snow and ice on Friday.

“What we’re looking at is a wintry mess out there and really it’s going to be a transition of precipitation types throughout this whole event,” Blair says.

He says the storm system will be moving from southwest to northeast Missouri.

The storm is expected to begin Friday morning in the 3-8 a.m. time frame. Blair tells Missourinet that Friday’s morning and evening commutes will be hazardous for Kansas City, Warrensburg, Columbia and Osage Beach.

“What we’re going to be seeing is snowfall starting out in these places Friday morning,” says Blair. “And as a little bit warmer weather moves into the area we’ll see that precipitation type change to a little bit of sleet and then eventually some freezing rain,” says Blair.

Springfield, Lebanon, Rolla and West Plains are also expected to see ice on Friday.

The Highway 63 corridor will see the heaviest amounts of ice, with up to a quarter-of-an-inch expected in Jefferson City, Columbia and Kirksville. Far western Missouri’s Butler and Nevada could also see up to a quarter-of-an-inch of ice.

The NWS says northwest Missouri will see the heaviest snowfall on Friday, with more than three inches expected in Maryville and Bethany.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and National Weather Service (NWS) meteorologist Scott Blair, which was recorded on January 16, 2020:

Missouri lawmakers on both sides react to governor’s State of the State (AUDIO)

January 16, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

Missouri’s governor proposed about $1 million in funding for witness protection during Wednesday’s State of the State Address in Jefferson City, in an effort to battle increasing violence in urban cities.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol’s Color Guard presents the flags before Governor Mike Parson’s State of the State Address on January 15, 2020 (photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

Governor Mike Parson’s (R) plan is being praised by State Rep. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, who says witnesses fear retribution.

“I hear law enforcement say that very thing that there are people that they know that know who these individuals are that are committing these crimes but they’re scared to death to come forward because they don’t want to be the next victim,” Basye says.

Basye’s district includes Columbia, which had 12 shooting deaths in 2019. Columbia Mayor Brian Treece and Police Chief Geoff Jones were special guests of Governor Parson at the State of the State Address.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, Kansas City Police Chief Richard Smith, St. Louis Mayor Lyda Krewson, St. Louis Public Safety Director Jimmie Edwards, Springfield Mayor Ken McClure and Springfield Police Chief Paul Williams were also special guests.

There were 194 murders in St. Louis and 148 in Kansas City in 2019.

Meantime, the governor received a standing ovation during his State of the State, when he announced that a new bridge will be built to replace the deteriorating Buck O’Neil Bridge in Kansas City. The bridge, which was built in 1956, crosses the Missouri River.

State Rep. Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, describes the project as huge.

“It’s a major, not just for the city of Kansas City but the entire region,” says Razer. “That’s a huge regional priority, it’s something that has to be done.”

About 44,000 vehicles use the bridge daily. Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna tells Missourinet that federal, state and local funding will pay for the $200 million project. McKenna expects construction of the new bridge to begin in about two years.

Director McKenna notes Parson’s 2019 bridge bonding program created a substitute funding mechanism, adding that Kansas City has committed about $60 million for the project. A grant is funding $25 million more.

Governor Parson also praises economic progress happening in Kansas City, noting it beat more than 130 cities around the nation to land two major divisions in the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), bringing more than 500 new jobs to the region.

Representative Razer praises the bipartisan and bi-state cooperation between Missouri and Kansas that took place, noting the jobs will pay about $100,000 annually.

“Kansas City is excited to welcome them (USDA employees) to their new home, to Missouri, to Kansas City,” Razer says. “We’re excited to have these 500 new Kansas Citians coming to Missouri.”

USDA is relocating its Economic Research Service (ERS) and its National Institute of Food and Agriculture Policy (NIFA) agencies to Pennsylvania Avenue in Kansas City.

State Reps. Chuck Basye, R-Rocheport, and Greg Razer, D-Kansas City, joined news director Brian Hauswirth live on Missourinet on January 15, 2020. They reacted to Governor Mike Parson’s State of the State Address and discussed other key legislative issues. Click here to listen to the first part of the interview:

Click here to listen to the second part of the interview:

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