Three Texas County projects would be completed under an August ballot issue and included in a list approved last week by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
Voters will go to the polls Aug. 5 to decide a three-quarters of a cent transportation sales tax that would be on the books for 10 years.
The list includes $4.8 billion in transportation projects across the state. While the majority of work focuses on Missouri’s roads and bridges, it also incorporates other modes of transportation.
In Texas County, the list includes:
■Resurfacing and adding shoulders to Highway 17 from Houston to Summersville. The cost is $5.79 million.
■Resurfacing Highway 32 from Licking to Success. Cost is $1.1 million.
■Resurfacing Highway 17 from Summersville to Mountain View. Cost: $1.35 million.
“We have worked with our regional planning organizations and have a list that encompasses both maintaining and upgrading our current system of roads and bridges, as well as improvements to transit services, sidewalks and bike trails, airports, rail and ports in Aoutheast Missouri,” said MoDOT District Engineer Mark Shelton in Sikeston.
“Ultimately, the delivery of projects outlined in this priorities list will go a long way toward fixing roads and bridges where Missouri’s system is already in bad condition. The end result of this work would affect Missourians in every region of the state and help meet the goals set forth in last year’s long-range transportation plan.”
The southeast district, which includes Texas County, would see 472 miles of roadway resurfacing, the addition of 200 miles of paved shoulders, improvements to 47 bridges, completion of the last four-lane sections of Routes 67 and 412 to the stateline, and increased connectivity with the construction of new interchanges.
“Of course, we are excited about the possibility of being able to maintain our current system and complete major projects that have been unfunded needs for quite some time,” said Shelton. “We are also pleased we can make many of our minor routes safer by adding shoulders and assist our multimodal system in southeast Missouri.”
He added that projects such as widening one-lane bridges are something MoDOT has heard as a primary concern from the farming community, and sidewalk improvements are an addition that many southeast Missouri families with children would welcome.
The entire transportation improvement list and information about the amendment are available at www.modot.org/movingforward. View projects by district by clicking on the online map showing each MoDOT region.