Honoring commitments is a value that guides customer service at MoDOT. Each year, when the department promises Missouri citizens that certain transportation projects will be built, MoDOT is making a significant commitment. 

“No matter where we work in the state, our guide for the work we’ll do on Missouri’s transportation system is the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, or STIP,” said Transportation Planning Director Machelle Watkins. “It’s our promise to the public we serve.”   

The STIP, a five-year outlook developed with significant public input, identifies for Missourians how we’ll spend their tax dollars and what benefits they’ll get for their money. As one year of work is completed, a new fifth year is added. The program is updated each year and presented to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission for approval. The new 2009-2013 program approved at the recent July commission meeting shows that spending for Missouri’s roads and bridges will plummet in fiscal year 2010 (which begins July 1, 2009) to a program where limited funding will only cover minimal maintenance and safety work.

The 2009-2013 transportation program includes $300 million in new construction projects because lengthened bond terms and lower than expected interest rates provided additional Amendment 3 bonding capacity. The $140 million bonded amount, combined with state savings from using Practical Design on projects and local matching funds, allows MoDOT to tackle, over the next five years, these new highway projects that include benefits like additional lanes, interchange improvements and congestion relief.

“Even though it’s great news to be able to pursue this additional work, we can’t overlook that in this program the Amendment 3 bond proceeds are used up, and our state transportation program goes back to critically low spending levels,” MoDOT Director Pete Rahn said. “The program that’s been approved marks the shift from having the opportunity to build new projects to barely maintaining what we have.”

Missouri transitions from a construction program averaging $1.23 billion to a construction program of about $575 million in 2013. Compounding the funding problem is an expected decline in federal revenue, and rising fuel and construction costs.

“We have seen great progress due to Amendment 3,” Rahn said. “Missouri must now have a conversation about what is to come regarding continued improvements to our transportation system.”   

The 2009-2013 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program lists all transportation projects planned by state and regional planning agencies for fiscal years 2009 through 2013. It totals $5.8 billion, with approximately $4.35 billion going to about 730 highway and bridge projects, about $810 million to other transportation modes and approximately $640 million to local transportation programs.

For a complete list of projects or for more information about the STIP, visit the department’s Web site at http://www.modot.org/.