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Missouri’s governor credits workforce development for projects like Amazon in Republic and Chewy in Belton

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Missouri’s governor emphasized numerous job expansions and projects during this week’s State of the State Address in Jefferson City. Governor Mike Parson says they highlight the state’s increasingly competitive business climate.

State Sens. Barbara Washington, D-Kansas City, (left) and Angela Mosley, D-Florissant, applaud as GOP Governor Mike Parson walks into the Senate chamber for the January 27, 2021 State of the State Address (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

“Accenture Federal Services in St. Louis, Chewy Incorporated in Belton, Amazon in Republic, Kawasaki in Maryville,” Parson says.

Governor Parson is also highlighting the expansions at Boeing in St. Charles and Ford Motor Company in Claycomo.

One of the biggest projects is in southwest Missouri’s Republic, where Amazon will open its first fulfillment center this year. The facility will create more than 500 new full-time jobs, in the fast-growing community. Starting pay for fulfillment center workers will be $15 an hour.

Kawasaki, which is the largest employer in northwest Missouri’s Nodaway County, is creating 110 new jobs by adding an assembly line and a second shift.

The plant already has about 1,100 workers. It manufactures small industrial gasoline engines for lawn, garden and turf products.

During Wednesday’s State of the State, Governor Parson noted that Missouri has jumped from 21st to 11th in the nation among site selectors. He says that’s primarily due to the success of workforce development programs.

“Through Missouri One Start for example, nearly 100,000 Missourians have received training through partnerships with over 400 companies,” says Parson.

The governor says since the newly revamped program was launched, businesses have invested $2.5 billion in Missouri.

Parson is also praising Ranken Technical College’s announcement of a new $7.5 million advanced manufacturing training facility in eastern Missouri’s Troy. He says it’s a “great example of what we can accomplish when education, government and the private sector work together.”

The governor also emphasized the importance of infrastructure, during the address. He specifically focused on levee projects and major bridge projects, including the Buck O’Neil bridge in Kansas City and the I-70 Rocheport bridge.

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MoDOT expects influx of construction workers in central Missouri’s Rocheport, for I-70 bridge project

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State transportation officials say construction of the $240 million project to replace the aging I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport will begin late this year.

The current I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport was built in 1960. It’s in poor condition, according to MoDOT (2020 file photo courtesy of MoDOT’s Lissie Wade)

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) deputy project director Derek Lepper and other officials answered about 90 minutes of questions from residents, during a virtual open house Tuesday evening. The current bridge will be used, while the new one is built.

“Well our plan is to try and keep two lanes open in each direction (on current bridge) for the majority of the project and just utilize like single lane closures during non-peak hours to try and alleviate any congestion that we can,” Lepper says.

The new bridge is expected to be completed by December 2024. MoDOT describes the current bridge as “the lynchpin of America,” carrying more than 12 million vehicles annually. That includes 3.6 million trucks.

The current bridge, which was built in 1960, is listed in poor condition by MoDOT. The agency says the bridge connects a majority of the nation. Within 48 hours, trucks carrying goods to all 48 lower states will have crossed the Rocheport bridge, according to MoDOT.

The agency is also thanking leaders in several mid-Missouri communities for contributing to the massive Rocheport project. MoDOT Rocheport bridge project director Brandi Baldwin says local support is key.

“$4.2 million has been provided by Boone County, Cooper County, Boonville and Columbia making up those local monies,” says Baldwin. “And we would like to thank them today for helping us make this project a reality.”

Baldwin also announced during the virtual town hall that the current bridge will be demolished, once the new bridge opens.

She also says the new bridge will be required to carry six lanes of traffic, to accommodate future I-70 growth. She also says the project will bring an influx of construction workers to Rocheport, which is 16 miles west of Columbia.

Missouri has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the bridge. The federal grant was also tied-in to a related project to build 1.2 miles of truck climbing lanes on I-70 at east-central Missouri’s Mineola Hill. The Mineola Hill project, which is happening in Montgomery County, continues to progress. There are cranes on-site, along with equipment.

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Open house set for $240 million I-70 bridge project in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport; bridge connects nation (AUDIO)

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State transportation officials will hold a virtual open house Tuesday evening to outline details of the massive $240 million project to replace the aging I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport.

The current I-70 bridge in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport was built in 1960. It’s in poor condition, according to MoDOT (2020 file photo courtesy of MoDOT’s Lissie Wade)

State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Rocheport bridge project director Brandi Baldwin says the virtual presentations will take place Tuesday from 5 to 6:30, and will be repeated every 20 minutes.

“What we plan to do is share with the public a series of slides, giving an overview of the project. And we’ll play that presentation in a loop,” Baldwin says.

You can find a link to Tuesday’s virtual open house here, on the MoDOT website.

Missouri has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the bridge, which was built in 1960. The federal grant was also tied-in to a related project to build one-point-two miles of truck climbing lanes on I-70 at east-central Missouri’s Mineola Hill. The Mineola Hill project, which is happening in Montgomery County, continues to progress. There are cranes on-site, along with equipment.

The deteriorating I-70 bridge in Rocheport is listed in poor condition, by MoDOT. The agency describes the bridge as “the lynchpin of America,” carrying more than 12-million vehicles annually. That includes 3.6 million trucks.

Baldwin expects the project to be done by the end of 2024.

“We will be awarding the project this summer at our July (State Highway) commission meeting, so we are working towards that,” says Baldwin.

The Rocheport bridge connects Boone and Cooper counties and also connects St. Louis and Kansas City. MoDOT also notes it connects a majority of the nation. Within 48 hours, trucks carrying goods to all 48 lower states will have crossed the Rocheport bridge, according to MoDOT.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Rocheport bridge project director Brandi Baldwin, which was recorded on January 22, 2021:

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Columbia’s mayor touts radiopharmaceutical corridor and three massive construction projects (AUDIO)

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Columbia’s mayor says his fast-growing city and all of mid-Missouri will benefit greatly from three massive projects happening in the area.

Missouri Governor Mike Parson (left) and Columbia Mayor Brian Treece (center) speak to businessman Greg Steinhoff on November 17, 2020 at a groundbreaking ceremony at Columbia Regional Airport (photo courtesy of the governor’s Flickr page)

Mayor Brian Treece notes that more than $500 million in new construction will be happening in the next 12 to 24 months, with some already underway.

“Between a new I-70 bridge at Rocheport, a $200 million NextGen precisional health complex, that will bring life saving cures to Columbia. And now a new $38 million airport terminal (at Columbia Regional). That’s great for mid-Missouri,” Treece says.

The NextGen Precision Health Institute, a $220 million facility, is under construction. It’s expected to train the next generation of scientists who will help Missouri address future health care needs.

The NextGen project is the UM System’s top capital priority, and enjoys bipartisan support in the Legislature from lawmakers such as Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, State Rep. Sara Walsh, R-Ashland, and State Rep. (and State Sen.-Elect) Greg Razer, D-Kansas City.

Mizzou says researchers in medicine and engineering will work in the institute, to advance lifesaving research.

As for the I-70 Rocheport bridge, Missouri has received an $81 million federal grant to replace the current bridge, which was built in 1960. More than 12-million vehicles cross that bridge annually, including three million trucks.

Rocheport is just west of Columbia.

Mayor Treece also predicts that a new terminal that will be built at Columbia Regional Airport (COU) will be a generational investment that will pay big dividends in future economic development for his city and for central Missouri. The mayor says the terminal will also be huge for the University of Missouri.

“For new businesses that want to come to mid-Missouri, that want to take advantage of the University of Missouri’s nuclear reactor and building a radiopharmaceutical corridor right here in central Missouri for life-saving cures that we all benefit from,” says Treece.

The current COU terminal was built in 1968, and Columbia will soon begin flying to Charlotte. Mayor Treece says the new terminal will put further destinations in play, and says Atlanta and Phoenix are two major hub cities Columbia would like to fly to.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Columbia Mayor Brian Treece, which was recorded on November 17, 2020 at Columbia Regional Airport:

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Boonville hospital closing and Medicaid expansion emerge as issues in key Missouri Senate race (AUDIO)

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Both major parties are pouring money and resources into a mid-Missouri state Senate race, a race that could determine whether Republicans keep a veto-proof majority in that chamber.

The race features Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, and former State Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia.

The district covers Boone and Cooper counties, along the I-70 corridor. While Columbia and Boonville are the two major cities in the district, there are also numerous small towns and farms across the two counties.

Rowden, who served two terms in the Missouri House from 2013-2016, won the Senate seat in 2016 by defeating then-State Rep. Stephen Webber, D-Columbia. Rowden had 45,335 votes, to Webber’s 43,179. Rowden won the race by about two-and-a-half points.

The majority leader is the two number two position in the Missouri Senate. Rowden says serving as majority leader gives him a larger role in impacting the agenda.

“For me that’s making sure that we find a way to get past COVID, trying to find a way to make sure that small businesses have what they need on the back end of COVID, that’s going to be a challenge,” Rowden says. “Trying to make sure the budget situation is stable.”

Rowden also says transportation is huge in the district, noting the importance of an $81-million dollar federal grant to replace the aging I-70 Rocheport bridge. Rocheport is just west of Columbia.

More than 12 million vehicles cross the massive bridge annually, including three million trucks. The bridge connects Boone with Cooper county, across the Missouri River. The current bridge is more than 60 years old, and the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has said it’s in poor condition.

Judy Baker served two terms in the Missouri House, from 2005-2008. She left her House seat to run for an open U.S. House seat in 2008, narrowly losing that race to Blaine Luetkemeyer, R-St. Elizabeth, who’s now in his sixth term.

If elected to the Missouri Senate, Baker’s top priority is implementing and protecting Medicaid expansion, which was approved by Missouri voters in August.

“We just passed it (in August) and in this (senatorial) district, it passed with 62 percent of the vote. And my opponent, of course, has voted against it every time he could,” Baker says.

Medicaid expansion supporters say it will provide healthcare to Missourians who earn less than $18,000 annually.

This year’s closing of a hospital in Boonville has emerged as an issue in this race. Baker tells Missourinet that Pinnacle Regional Hospital in Boonville and some other hospitals would have been saved by Medicaid expansion.

“Those hospitals would have been able to stay in their communities, had they had some kind of revenue for the patients they were already seeing,” says Baker.

But Rowden tells Missourinet that the Boonville hospital closed because of mismanagement, saying hospital leaders in Boonville didn’t have the best interest of the community at heart. Rowden disagrees with Baker on Medicaid expansion.

“Well Medicaid expansion wouldn’t keep any rural hospital open, and there’s no data to back that up,” says Rowden. “I do think the infusion of federal dollars could have postponed the inevitable, in some cases.”

The Missouri Hospital Association says ten rural hospitals have closed in Missouri, since 2014.

Rowden and Baker are also clashing over the initial cost of Medicaid expansion, with Rowden saying it will cost $300 to $500 million in the first five years. He says the money has to come from somewhere, and doesn’t want it coming from Mizzou.

Baker says Medicaid expansion would be an economic boost to hospitals and to the towns that have hospitals, especially rural areas.

Republicans currently control the Senate 23-8, with three vacancies. Two of the three vacancies are in the heavily-Democratic Kansas City area, and one is in southeast Missouri, a GOP stronghold.

A veto-proof majority in the Missouri Senate is 23 Senate seats.

Democrats hope to unseat both Majority Leader Rowden and State Sen. Andrew Koenig, R-Manchester, on Tuesday. If that happens and if the other Senate races end up as expected, Republicans would have 22 seats, one short of a veto-proof majority.

Governor Mike Parson (R) noted the importance of Rowden’s seat, during a speech last week to supporters at Emery Sapp and Sons in Columbia. Parson spoke directly to the construction workers in the back of the room, saying “I need him,” referring to Senator Rowden.

Rowden’s other top priorities include protecting funding for Mizzou, as well as K-12 and other higher education funding.

Baker is also focused on the COVID pandemic, and says any economic recovery should be geared toward working families.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with Missouri Senate Majority Leader Caleb Rowden, R-Columbia, which was recorded on October 28, 2020:

Click here to listen to Brian’s full interview with former State Rep. Judy Baker, D-Columbia, which was recorded in Columbia on October 29, 2020:

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MoDOT to begin major I-70 project at east-central Missouri’s Mineola Hill next week

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The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says the massive project to replace the aging I-70 Rocheport bridge in mid-Missouri is still in the planning phases. MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna says the agency is making good progress on a related project to build one-point-two miles of truck climbing lanes on I-70 at east-central Missouri’s Mineola Hill.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says work will begin on July 6 to add a third lane to both eastbound and westbound I-70 at Mineola Hill in Montgomery County (fall 2019 file photo courtesy of MoDOT)

“And we’re hoping by the end of the calendar year, we’re actually going to have a climbing lane at Mineola Hill,” McKenna says.

In 2019, MoDOT received an $81 million federal Infrastructure for Rebuilding America (INFRA) grant for the I-70 Rocheport bridge replacement and for the I-70 Mineola Hill truck climbing lanes. MoDOT says the Mineola Hill climbing lanes will generate safety and mobility benefits for both cars and trucks that travel at different speeds along that segment of I-70, which is in Montgomery County.

MoDOT says work will begin next Monday to add a third lane to both eastbound and westbound I-70 at Mineola Hill. MoDOT crews will be on-site to begin setting traffic control, as well as setting erosion control.

“We have substantial additional work on environmental work and engineering, before we get to the point of putting out an RFP for construction services on that,” says McKenna.

Construction at Mineola Hill is expected to be done by next fall. Columbia-based Emery Sapp and Sons is the prime contractor, and Barlett and West is handling design services.

As for the I-70 bridge in Rocheport, more than 12 million vehicles cross it every year. That includes three million trucks.

“And that equals to about 100 million tons of freight, which equals more than $154 billion annually so many trucks,” U.S. Rep. Vicky Hartzler, R-Harrisonville, told Missourinet in 2019.

Rocheport, which is just west of Columbia, is in Congresswoman Hartzler’s district. The current Rocheport bridge is 60 years old, and MoDOT says it’s in poor condition.

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Geological drilling and testing to impact I-70 traffic near Rocheport Bridge

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Missouri River bridge at Rocheport (Photo courtesy MoDOT)

Traffic may be slowed at the busy 1-70 bridge over the Missouri River near Rocheport.

The bridge is slated to be replaced, with construction starting in 2022. To prepare for construction, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) will gather geotechnical data and survey information. The tests involve drilling holes beneath the surface to get valuable information about the area’s rock and soil stability.

According to a MoDOT release, this process will require occasional lane closures. A single lane of westbound I-70 will be closed at various locations on or near the bridge Tuesday, March 24 through Friday, March 27 between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Signs will alert motorists to the closures. MoDOT asks drivers to slow and use caution through the work zone.

There are no emergency lanes on the bridge itself.

Work is weather permitting and could be delayed. For more information about this project: www.modot.org/modot-central-district or call 1-888-ASK-MoDOT (275-6636).

 

UPDATE: Westbound I-70 in mid-Missouri’s Rocheport closed for six hours (AUDIO)

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UPDATE: The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says westbound I-70 on the Rocheport bridge in mid-Missouri has re-opened, after being closed for almost six hours. MoDOT’s Central District is warning that overnight refreezing is likely on bridges and elevated roadways. The agency will be bringing in additional crews, during the overnight hours. Motorists are urged to slow down.

HERE IS THE ORIGINAL STORY:

State transportation officials say westbound I-70 is completely closed at the heavily-traveled Rocheport bridge in mid-Missouri, due to numerous snow-related crashes. Multiple tractor trailers are involved in the crash, which happened at about 12:15 p.m.

Missouri state troopers say multiple tractor trailers are involved in crashes on the westbound I-70 bridge in central Missouri’s Rocheport (February 5, 2020 photo courtesy of Troop F Twitter page)

State Department of Transportation (MoDOT) spokesman Adam Pulley tells Missourinet they hope to re-open westbound I-70 by 4 p.m. this (Wednesday) afternoon. Tow trucks have arrived in a tight area on the bridge.

Missouri state troopers say there’s one injury, and that there is a lot of debris from the crashes.

MoDOT says more than 12-million vehicles cross the I-70 Rocheport bridge annually, including three million trucks.

Rocheport is just west of Columbia.

The National Weather Service (NWS) has issued multiple winter storm warnings across Missouri today, including for mid-Missouri and southwest Missouri. NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Jimmy Barham warns roads are deteriorating east of the Kansas City metro. He says that could impact Chiefs fans attending today’s Super Bowl parade and rally, which is happening at Union Station in Kansas City.

“People who are leaving the parade heading towards the south or to the east, be aware that you are going to be moving into more hazardous conditions than you think you are,” Barham says.

Winter storm warnings remain in effect for central and southwest Missouri, until Thursday morning.

Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd reports visibility, at times, was only a quarter-of-a-mile today in Columbia. The Jefferson City/Columbia areas are expected to see about five inches of snow. The NWS Springfield office says Joplin and the Stockton Lake areas could see up to six inches.

The NWS is also warning about deteriorating conditions in the St. Louis region, with a snow/sleet mix.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Jimmy Barham, which was recorded on February 5, 2020:

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(VIDEO) “A project of national significance”: Rocheport one of 250 bridges to be replaced

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Governor Mike Parson, surrounded by local, state and national legislators, announced the success of his plan to replace 250 bridges around Missouri– including the $238 million 1-70 Rocheport Bridge.

On a bluff overlooking the bridge and the Missouri River, Sen. Roy Blunt joined the governor in explaining the work it took to get the money needed.

Busy Rocheport I-70 bridge will be replaced, Gov. Parson and Sen. Blunt to announce details on site today

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A creatively engineered funding plan of federal, state, local and borrowing has assured that a critical bridge in Missouri will be replaced, instead of repaired. This summer, the Missouri Department of Transportation got $81 million of a federal infrastructure (INFRA) grant, plus the promise of state funding to borrow what it needs to keep traffic flowing over the Missouri River on I-70.

The money will also be used to build climbing lanes on I-70 at what’s known as Mineola Hill in Montgomery County, in the Loutre River valley.  “Mineola Hill impacts the national freight network every day,” says MoDOT Director Patrick McKenna.

“The combination of the two created a very strong application and the USDOT recognized that. But that did not provide all of the source of funding for the bridge,” he adds. “We had about a $106 million gap to close. We’ve been working very closely with the highway commission to fill that gap. We’re going to do that through cost-share and the infrastructure bank and we’re really pleased with the way that’s all coming together.”

The Legislature approved $351.0 million for replacement and repair of bridges, including $50 million one-time General Revenue and $301.0 million from bonding, which was contingent upon the award of the federal INFRA Grant.

MoDOT map shows where traffic flows within 48 hours of crossing the I-70 bridge near Rocheport. About 12 million vehicles cross the bridge each year.