ST. LOUIS – The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC) announced the award of the St. Louis District’s Safety Improvements Project to the West Contracting team during its monthly meeting held in Jefferson City today.
The selected team had to meet or exceed several goals including: reducing fatal and serious injury crashes in the St. Louis area, constructing improvements safely and with reasonable maintenance requirements and completing the project by June 30, 2026 using a diverse workforce. This project is a partnership with St. Louis County to provide improvements on St. Louis County roads as well as state routes in Jefferson County, city of St. Louis and St. Louis County.
“This historical first time sharing of Highway Safety Improvement Program federal funding can make a profound difference on how St. Louis County addresses the stretches of roads that need to be redesigned and rebuilt to protect drivers,” said St. Louis County Executive Dr. Sam Page.
The proposal from the team – comprised of the construction and design expertise of West Contracting Company, Horner and Shifrin, Inc., Lochmueller Group, and Engineering Design Source, Inc.– was deemed to be the apparent best value to taxpayers based on the project goals. The project will cost approximately $52 million including $2 million from the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program and $2 million from St. Louis County. The construction of the project is scheduled to begin summer of 2024.
Chris West, President of West Contracting commented, “West Contracting is honored to be selected to partner with MoDOT and St. Louis County on such an important project improving safety throughout the St. Louis region. West Contracting and our partners are committed to safety and are excited to begin implementing innovative safety solutions within the region.”
Project details include:
- Reducing fatal and serious injury crashes by improving safety in Jefferson County, St. Louis County and the City of St. Louis
- Installing more than 325 safety improvements at nearly 200 locations such as signing, guardrail, and signal improvements
- Implementing innovative and cost-effective safety improvements with reasonable maintenance requirements
- Improving safety for pedestrians and other roadway users by encouraging drivers to slow down and increasing visibility of signals and pedestrians
- Addressing at least 25% of locations in or adjacent to USDOT-identified disadvantaged communities
- Emphasizing the safety of roadway workers and the traveling public during construction
- Installing more than 60% of the designated safety improvements by the end of 2024
“MoDOT is excited to partner with St. Louis County and the West Contracting team to deliver lifesaving improvements to the St. Louis Region” said Stacey Smith, MoDOT SL Safety Improvements Project Director.
For more information, visit Safety Improvements Project: A Lifesaving Partnership | Missouri Department of Transportation (modot.org) for project updates.
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