The Countdown Begins - Dec. 31 is Deadline for Completing Smooth Roads Initiative

MoDOT Web Site Tracks Deadline “To The Second”

JEFFERSON CITY – By the end of this year, Missouri’s busiest highways will be in good condition if the Missouri Department of Transportation can meet the governor’s challenge to complete the Smooth Roads Initiative by Dec. 31. And a countdown clock, found at www.modot.org, is ticking down the days, hours, minutes and seconds until the end of the year to help make sure everyone stays focused on that deadline.

The Smooth Roads Initiative is part of MoDOT’s Smoother, Safer, Sooner program, an aggressive road-building effort financed by voter passage of Amendment 3 in November 2004.  The initiative, begun a year ago, had a goal of bringing the most heavily traveled 2,200 miles of Missouri highways up to good condition by December 2007.  In his recent State of the State Address, Gov. Matt Blunt called on MoDOT to move that deadline up to December 2006.

“Improving all these highways by the end of 2007 was already an aggressive timetable,” said MoDOT Director Pete Rahn. “Moving everything up a year is a huge challenge, but I’m confident we can get it done.

“Our employees and contractor partners are planning their busiest year ever to meet this deadline,” he said. “We’ll be pushing hard every day to accomplish this, and the countdown clock won’t ever slow down or let us forget our mission.”

The highway miles included in the Smooth Roads Initiative account for 60 percent of all traffic on the state system.   The roads include interstates, major highways in the metropolitan areas, and highway corridors connecting smaller towns throughout the state.   About 86 percent of Missouri's population lives within 10 miles of one of the selected roads. When work on the initiative started a year ago, three-fourths of these highways were in fair to poor condition.

Improvements will include better pavement for a smoother drive, as well as brighter stripes and signs, improved shoulders with rumble stripes, and safer guardrails.

Editor’s note: Recorded comments on this topic are available on MoDOT’s sound bite service at www.modot.gov/newsroom.