Missouri Department of Transportation Archives - Page 3 of 6

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.

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.

Major winter storm to bring ice, sleet, snow and freezing rain to Missouri (AUDIO)

January 10, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

At least 30 school districts across northern Missouri dismissed classes early Friday afternoon, to get students home before roads deteriorate during a major winter storm.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill has updated the timing of the winter storm that will impact much of Missouri (January 10, 2020 map courtesy of NWS Twitter)

The National Weather Service (NWS) says freezing rain has started in northwest Missouri, part of a winter storm system that will impact much of the state this weekend. State transportation officials say roads in northwest Missouri are already covered or partially covered in snow or ice.

NWS Pleasant Hill meteorologist Scott Blair says the complicated system is bringing a combination of sleet and snow to far northwest Missouri.

“What we have ongoing right now is some freezing rain and that is going to cause quite a lot of problems as we continue on in the afternoon hours through those evening hour time frames,” Blair says.

Maryville and Bethany are expected to see five to eight inches of snow.

Mr. Blair says a line stretching from Kansas City to Chillicothe to Kirksville should see rain, freezing rain, sleet and snow.

“And as that colder air arrives after sunset we will start seeing that potential for both freezing rain and then eventually sleet to move into the area,” says Blair.

Four to six inches of snow are expected in Chillicothe and St. Joseph. Cities like Columbia and Moberly could see up to a quarter-of-an-inch of ice. Jefferson City could see some ice as well.

The NWS and the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) are also warning you to be on the alert for refreezing of roads Saturday night into Sunday morning, across central, northern and western Missouri. Blair urges you to be cautious.

“The key point takeaway is don’t worry so much about the exact amount of snow forecast,” Blair says. “Just remember that this is going to be a combination of both a glaze of ice, followed by snow on top of that.”

Missourinet Cameron affiliate KMRN (AM 1360) reports more than 25 schools in northwest and north-central Missouri are dismissing early today. They include the St. Joseph, Gallatin and Princeton School Districts. Our Moberly affiliate KWIX (AM 1230) reports four districts have dismissed early in their listening area, including the Green City and Milan School Districts.

The NWS says a flash flood watch is in effect for southern and central Missouri, including Columbia and Springfield.

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 10, 2020:

MoDOT replacing 91-year-old bridge in southeast Missouri; first project in “focus on bridges” plan

January 3, 2020 By Brian Hauswirth

State transportation officials say the first project in the governor’s “focus on bridges” program is now open to one lane of traffic. The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) says a new Highway 72 bridge over Stouts Creek in southeast Missouri’s Iron County opened just before Christmas.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is replacing the old Highway 72 bridge over Stouts Creek in southeast Missouri’s Iron County. It was built in 1928. (December 2019 photo courtesy of MODOT’s Sally Oxenhandler)

The bridge, which is south of Farmington, connects Ironton and Fredericktown. It’s used by residents and farmers and also people heading to recreate in the area.

MoDOT says the 91-year-old bridge was in such poor condition that they didn’t want vehicles to cross it this winter. The construction contract called for a new bridge, which is being built alongside the 1928 bridge, to be open to one lane of traffic with temporary signals by December.

MoDOT Southeast District spokeswoman Nicole Thieret, who’s based in Sikeston, tells Missourinet MoDOT was able to switch traffic from the existing structure to the new structure in the morning hours on December 20.

MoDOT says the new bridge is expected to be fully completed by spring. Poplar Bluff-based Robertson Construction is the project contractor.

Governor Mike Parson (R) and Senate President Pro Tem Dave Schatz (R-Sullivan) made the bridge bonding measure a priority during the 2019 legislative session. The $350 million measure, which had bipartisan support, will repair or replace 250 of the state’s poorest bridges.

During a February 2019 Missourinet story, Pro Tem Schatz credited Governor Parson for traveling to his district in eastern Missouri’s Franklin County in early 2019 to see one of the 250 bridges, adding that the need for investment in Missouri infrastructure is great.

“Very important, very critical for farmers to be able to get their crops, to get their animals to the market and making sure that those bridges are safe and secure,” Schatz said in that story.

MoDOT says the Highway 72 bridge is one of six in the “focus on bridges” program that’s currently under construction. 43 others are under contract.

Libla predicts gas tax increase plan would raise $144 million annually for Missouri transportation (AUDIO)

December 22, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(This is the first story in Brian Hauswirth’s two-part series about Missouri transportation)

Legislation that would increase Missouri’s gasoline tax from 17 to 19 cents per gallon has been filed by the Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee chairman.

State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, briefs Capitol reporters on May 10, 2018 in Jefferson City (file photo courtesy of Missouri Senate photographer Harrison
Sweazea)

State Sen. Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, notes Missouri’s 17-cent gas tax has remained the same since 1996, and says the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is dipping into reserves for federal matching funds.

“It’s simple math,” Libla says. “You can’t purchase 2019, 2020 goods and services like asphalt, concrete, labor, steel with 1996 dollars.”

The bill would also raise the tax on diesel fuel from 17 to 23 cents per gallon.

Libla tells Missourinet lawmakers can raise the gasoline and diesel fuel taxes by this amount on their own, adding they have a fiduciary duty to do it on their own. He says his proposal is in line with the Hancock Amendment.

“We’re (state lawmakers) elected to represent our constituents and also represent the state of Missouri and to make sure that we protect the assets of the state,” says Libla.

Missouri voters rejected a proposed ten-cent gas tax increase in November 2018.

While Missouri has the nation’s seventh-largest highway system with 34,000 miles of roadway, it ranks 49th in funding.

Chairman Libla predicts his proposal to increase Missouri’s gasoline and diesel fuel taxes would raise about $144 million annually for transportation. He says cities and counties would receive about $44 million of that, while the rest would go to MoDOT for maintenance and new road and bridge construction.

Libla’s legislation would also adjust the taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel annually for inflation. Libla says we’ve funded roads and bridges in Missouri for 95 years with a gas tax.

He says there are road problems throughout the state.

“You know we have traffic congestion that’s costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year,” Libla says. “We’ve got safety issues, we’ve got families traveling, we’ve got school buses, we’ve got kids traveling everyday.”

Missouri’s 21st century transportation system task force submitted an 87-page report to the Legislature in January 2018, recommending a ten-cent gasoline tax increase and a 12-cent diesel tax increase. In that report, MoDOT said that congestion in St. Louis and Kansas City and along Interstates 44 and 70 in Missouri is causing an annual economic loss of $575 million.

“The cost of congestion in Kansas City and St. Louis have increased every year since 2013, along with the volume of traffic. The economic cost to Missouri drivers from congestion averages $43 per month per driver,” the January 2018 report read.

Libla says MoDOT has done an outstanding job, with the resources they are given.

Libla’s bill is Senate Bill 539. The 2020 legislative session begins on January 8 in Jefferson City.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Senate Transportation, Infrastructure and Public Safety Committee Chairman Doug Libla, R-Poplar Bluff, which was recorded on December 10, 2019:

Missouri lawmaker unhappy with MoDOT response to winter storm this month

November 27, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

A state lawmaker from eastern Missouri is criticizing what he calls the state Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT’s) incompetence, for its handling of the Veterans Day winter storm.

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, speaks on the Missouri House floor on May 17, 2019 (file photo courtesy of Tim Bommel at House Communications)

State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, says his vehicle struck black ice in St. Charles County during the storm and that he had to use his emergency brake to stop.

Schroer says he almost crashed and saw another vehicle flip over on I-70 in Lake St. Louis.

He wants MoDOT to examine how other states handle snow, including the chemicals they’re using. Schroer says the agency wasn’t ready for the storm.

“Is what we (Missouri) are doing to prepare in these types of situations, in these snowstorms, these ice storms, is that adequate,” Schroer asks. “Is that enough? Look to other states, see what they’re doing.”

Schroer says it took him more than 90 minutes to get home that evening, a trip that normally takes 15 minutes.

“It’s just ridiculous to me because now I have two young girls that I had to go get (that evening) and slid in the black ice and I’m trying to get them home,” says Schroer.

There were hundreds of crashes across the state during the Veterans Day winter storm. One woman who was stuck by a vehicle in St. Charles County, after the “St. Louis Post-Dispatch” reports her car had problems in the weather. And state troopers say a 61-year-old man from Chilhowee died when he lost control of his vehicle on an ice-covered road and overturned near western Missouri’s Centerview.

As for MoDOT, they tell Missourinet that although forecasts said it would end midday on Veterans Day, an additional wave of snow came through that afternoon after the first snow melted and washed off the salt. They say their trucks were treating roads all day. They also note their trucks were blocked by significant crashes that day on I-70 in Schroer’s St. Charles County district.

MoDOT also says safety is their top priority and that they have hundreds of dedicated employees who work hard to keep St. Louis-area roads safe during winter storms.

Schroer, who serves as the vice chairman of the House Special Committee on Government Oversight, tells Missourinet that if the scenario happens again, he’ll want MoDOT to testify before the committee.

MoDOT helds its annual winter operations drill on November 7, four days before the storm. They reacted to a simulated forecast of significant snow for the entire state and inspected every piece of equipment.

The agency spent more than $64 million on winter operations last year and used more than 180,000 tons of salt, 100,000 gallons of liquid calcium chloride and about 700,000 gallons of beet juice. MoDOT says that during an average winter, its employees plow about six million miles of snow and ice.

Here is the full statement from MoDOT’s St. Louis District office, in response to the Missourinet interview with Representative Schroer:

Thank you for reaching out to MoDOT following your interview with State Rep. Nick Schroer, R-O’Fallon, during which shared concerns with MoDOT’s response to last week’s winter storm.

Safety is our number 1 priority. MoDOT has hundreds of dedicated employees in St. Louis working hard to keep roads safe and passable. State employees were out all day Monday, November 11th, working the winter event including plowing and spreading salt. It is difficult to use salt in an effective way when storms start as rain/sleet and strike during times of heavy traffic volumes. The November 11th event had warm enough ground temperatures to melt all the snow that fell, washing off the salt that was applied early in the day. Although the weather forecasts said it would end midday, an additional wave of snow came around 2 p.m. after the first snow had melted and washed off the salt. When the winds brought a significant drop in temperature, all routes across St. Louis started freezing at the same time which coincided with the start of evening rush hour.

MoDOT’s trucks were treating roads all day. Winter events like Monday can present extreme challenges, especially when you have winter precipitation during rush hour. Specific to Representative Schroer’s area in St. Charles County, there were a couple significant crashes on I-70 and Rte 364 that MoDOT trucks were caught in. When MoDOT trucks are stuck in traffic, it limits our ability to continue treating roads and getting to all the state owned roads.

Construction progressing on $63 million window/door plant in mid-Missouri (AUDIO)

October 29, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

Framing has been completed on the 200,000 square foot window and door manufacturing plant being built in mid-Missouri’s Eldon, south of Jefferson City.

Quaker Windows and Doors is building a new $63 million plant in central Missouri’s Eldon (October 2019 photo courtesy of Quaker)

State Department of Economic Development (DED) central region manager Michelle Hataway says Freeburg-based Quaker Windows and Doors is expected to create 290 new full-time jobs in Eldon.

“Average wage for the new full-time employees is going to be over $43,000, which is 130 percent of the (Miller) county average wage,” Hataway says.

Hataway says the company is investing $63.3 million in the project, and expects hiring to begin in the spring.

Construction crews have begun to install the roof on the massive plant. Hataway tells Missourinet that Quaker is the talk of Eldon and the region.

“The Chamber of Commerce is extremely excited. When you drive by their new site on (Highway) 52 right there, it says welcome to Eldon. Quaker coming 2020,” says Hataway.

Quaker Windows and Doors began operations in 1949, and was started by Marge and Bud Knoll. The Knoll family was well-known across mid-Missouri. The company is celebrating its 70th anniversary.

Quaker manufactures windows and doors for commercial and residential projects, and has its headquarters and two plants in Freeburg.

Hataway says Quaker will partner with the Eldon Career Center to offer apprenticeships to high school juniors and seniors.

“We (DED) work with a lot of projects across the state and I can tell you that a lot of communities are looking at this to see how they are pioneering the solution to workforce,” Hataway says.

About 1,100 of the 1,900 students in the Eldon School District qualify for free and reduced lunch, and Mayor Larry Henderson has told Missourinet that he wants to create a community with good jobs that kids will stay in and want to come back home to.

Hataway also praises the various partners that DED has worked with on this project, including Ameren Missouri, Miller County, the Eldon Career Center and the state Department of Transportation (MoDOT).

The plant is being built along heavily-traveled Highway 52, and MoDOT has widened the turn lane, making it safer for trucks and employees coming into and out of the facility.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and state Department of Economic Development manager Michelle Hataway, which was recorded on October 22, 2019:

Kehoe: “We’ll see what Missourians think is the appropriate response” on transportation (AUDIO)

October 3, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The state’s lieutenant governor says Missourians will have to decide whether a gasoline tax increase is needed.

Missouri Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe (left) and Governor Mike Parson wave to supporters at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park on September 23, 2019 (photo courtesy of Kehoe campaign)

Missouri’s 17-cent gasoline tax has remained the same since 1996. Last November, voters rejected a proposed ten-cent gas tax increase.

At his campaign announcement last week at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park, Lieutenant Governor Mike Kehoe (R) told the audience that a long-term solution is needed for transportation. Missourinet asked him that night if a gas tax increase is on the table. Kehoe says Missourians will have to decide that.

“As you know, our Hancock Amendment prohibits the Legislature from coming up with that solution, that’s probably a good thing most days,” Kehoe says. “So we’ll see what Missourians think is the appropriate response.”

Missourians approved the Hancock Amendment in 1980. It’s named after the late Springfield businessman Mel Hancock, who was elected to Congress several years later. The Hancock Amendment essentially requires voter approval before taxes can be increased by lawmakers, beyond a certain annual limit.

Kehoe says a long-term solution is needed, for the safety of Missouri families and for the reliability of our businesses.

“When you have the (nation’s) seventh-largest infrastructure system and you’re 49th in funding, it doesn’t take long to figure out you need a long-term solution. We’re all willing to listen to what Missourians think is the most reasonable approach to that, and then we’ll figure it out,” says Kehoe.

Lieutenant Governor Kehoe campaigned for Proposition D, the proposed gas tax increase, last fall. He spoke in September 2018 at the 84th annual Missouri Municipal League (MML) conference in Branson.

“What the mayors here (at the Branson conference) understand is they couldn’t run their city budgets and Missourians couldn’t run their household budgets if they didn’t have any extra income for 22 years straight,” Kehoe said that day.

The state Department of Transportation (MoDOT) has said that if voters had approved Proposition D, it would have generated about $288 million annually in new road and bridge funding.

Click here to listen to the full interview between Missourinet’s Brian Hauswirth and Lt. Governor Mike Kehoe, which was recorded on September 23, 2019 at Jefferson City’s Memorial Park:

Flash flood watch in effect for parts of northern Missouri; severe storms also possible (AUDIO)

October 1, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill has issued a flash flood watch for parts of north-central and northwest Missouri, through Wednesday.

The National Weather Service (NWS) in Pleasant Hill says isolated tornadoes and 60-mile per hour winds are possible today across far northwest Missouri (October 1, 2019 map courtesy of NWS Twitter page)

NWS meteorologist Chris Bowman says communities in the watch area have already been inundated with rainfall.

“Some of the cities would be St. Joseph, Maryville, Bethany and up to Atchison County, Missouri,” Bowman says.

The NWS says towns like Tarkio and Fairfax could receive three to four inches of additional rainfall, by Thursday. Northern Missouri communities like Bethany, Princeton and Unionville received four to six inches of rain this weekend.

The state Department of Transportation’s (MoDOT) traveler map shows 58 roads are currently closed due to flooding, primarily in northwest Missouri.

Mr. Bowman tells Missourinet this weather pattern is not typical for October.

“We’ve got a lot of moisture streaming northward. You can just walk outside and right away feel that it’s humid,” says Bowman.

The NWS in Pleasant Hill also says severe storms are possible Tuesday afternoon and evening in far northwest Missouri, with 60 mile per-hour wind gusts possible and an isolated tornado risk. Hail up to one inch is also possible.

Click here to listen to Brian Hauswirth’s full interview with National Weather Service (NWS) Pleasant Hill meteorologist Chris Bowman, which was recorded on October 1, 2019:

Parson visits aging southwest Missouri bridge to tout bridge bonding

September 24, 2019 By Brian Hauswirth

(Reporter Ty Albright from Missourinet Joplin affiliate KZRG contributed to this story)

Missouri’s governor traveled to southwest Missouri’s Jasper County Tuesday afternoon, touring two deteriorating I-44 bridges that are being replaced with new funding.

This is the I-44 bridge over Shoal Creek near Joplin. It was built in 1956 (September 24, 2019 photo courtesy of KRZG’s Ty Albright)

Governor Mike Parson (R) is concerned about a new study, which says Missouri has the eighth-worst roads in the nation. He tells our Joplin affiliate KZRG (AM 1310) that it’s important to change that.

“After last year, the Legislature worked out the bonding issue. We’re going to be able to make lots of strides forward, in the infrastructure. We’re not going to be able to fix it all with that, but we’re going to make a step forward, and I think that’s what’s important,” Parson says.

Truckers and motorists along heavily-traveled I-44 near Joplin may have noticed the governor and television camera crews today, along with dozens of highway workers. Parson spoke to KZRG’s Ty Albright at the I-44 bridge over Shoal Creek, which was built in 1956. The governor says it was in poor condition.

“Just making sure that the public is aware of what’s going on and how we’re spending the money and why it’s so important that we keep these bridges and our infrastructure up,” says Parson.

State lawmakers approved the governor’s $350 million bridge bonding plan this year, which is aimed at repairing or replacing 250 deteriorating bridges. The two I-44 bridges are being replaced, using that funding.

Thousands of trucks cross the two bridges each year.

Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Director Patrick McKenna joined the governor in Joplin.

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