The Friends of Shafer Road have scheduled a meeting for 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 19, at the Intercounty Electric Auditorium in Licking. They are inviting political advocates, representatives from the Missouri Highway and Transportation Commission (MHTC), Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), and all who are interested in the fate of Shafer Road.
It was originally asphalted in 1932 as U.S. Highway 63. After construction of the current stretch of U.S. 63, which runs parallel to Shafer Road, the State Highway Commission no longer considered it “economically feasible to maintain” the old highway, and Sherrill Township assumed maintenance of it on July 21, 1962.
In the spring of 2023 a petition was signed by close to 500 individuals urging “real road improvements” to Shafer Road. A meeting held on June 15 brought together State Rep. Bennie Cook, the Sherrill Township Board, the Texas County Commission, representatives of MoDOT and MDC, and some concerned residents to discuss the matter. The state was willing to supply materials to overlay the road or turn it to gravel, if the township would assume all responsibility and ownership of the road. The township would be responsible for redoing the chip seal every few years, at a current cost of approximately $100,000. The township receives about $1,000 per mile of roadway from the county each year, and is unable to maintain the paved, nearly 7-mile stretch of roadway with those limited funds.
Sherrill Township sent a letter to Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) in September, notifying them that the township would no longer be providing maintenance services for Shafer Road. In mid-December, responsibility for the roadway reverted to the state.
Since then, Shafer Road has been a road that no one is willing to maintain. MoDOT Deputy Director/Chief Engineer Ed Hassinger advised that the state has no plans to maintain Shafer Road. Their stance on the roadway remains unchanged from that of 1962, that the roadway is not feasible to maintain. When questioned on the amount of traffic the roadway receives compared to some lesser-traveled state-maintained letter routes, Hassinger explained that U.S. 63, a parallel route to Shafer Road, offers access to the area.
Hassinger stated that the ball is in the township’s court, and it is up to them what the fate of the road will be.
The Friends of Shafer Road hope to find a resolution to this issue at their planned meeting. Residents along the route, the school district, visitors and employees of George O. White State Forest Nursery, and those who use the route to access county roads to other locations all have a vested interest in the outcome. The Friends of Shafer Road hope to see an outpouring of support at their meeting.
—LICKING NEWS