On a project that stretches for 200 miles and has both urban and rural components, how do you choose a location for a public meeting?

That’s the dilemma MoDOT officials faced this summer as plans were made for a mid-project update on the environmental study that is evaluating the inclusion of truck-only lanes to any future reconstruction and expansion of Interstate 70 across Missouri.

“In our previous studies of I-70, which lasted nearly six years, we were able to move our meetings around,” Project Manager Bob Brendel said. “At one time or another, we had been in nearly every community along I-70. But this study was only scheduled for 12 months, with three rounds of meetings. Plus, our spring meetings had been lightly attended. We needed to try something different.”

So, building off the experience of having had 7,500 people watch a YouTube video about how truck-only lanes might work, MoDOT and its consultant, HNTB, decided to try an online public meeting. The displays that normally sit on easels at a public meeting were made into interactive PDFs that were available for a month on the study Web site – www.improvei70.org.

When the online meeting came to a close in late September, more than 525 participants had downloaded the public meeting, and 87 had completed an accompanying electronic survey.

“It’s often a challenge to get people to attend a public meeting,” Brendel said, “especially on a project that has so many uncertainties. And with gasoline approaching $4 per gallon, it’s hard to expect people to drive a long distance to attend a meeting.

“We thought this was worth trying; giving people the opportunity to view the displays at whatever time was most convenient for them.”

To ensure a two-way dialogue, visitors to the online meeting were provided with an opportunity to e-mail questions at any point. Answers were posted to a “Q&A” page periodically throughout the month-long meeting. To supplement the online meeting, MoDOT also conducted three in-person “listening stations” at a truck stop in Oak Grove and at public libraries in Columbia and O’Fallon.

“We received a lot of valuable input,” Brendel said. “More than 95 percent of the people who completed the survey said the displays had made a good case for why I-70 needs to be reconstructed, and 73 percent were in favor of the truck-only lanes concept.”

A complete summary of the online meeting can be found at the Improve I-70 Web site.