The Missouri Department of Transportation says Missouri’s rural highways, while scenic, carry unique safety challenges. Crashes are more likely to occur at higher speeds, the vehicle occupants are more apt to be unbelted and accident victims are further away from medical help.
To help combat those issues, MoDOT will be using an $800,000 federal grant to install six additional electronic message boards and 12 closed circuit television cameras in south central and southeast Missouri. The new equipment will be installed in areas with high traffic volumes and incident rates.
In Texas County, message boards will be placed at U.S. 60/63N and U.S. 60/63S. The project completion date is set for Dec. 1. The six signs erected under the contract will bring the total number of rural message boards throughout the state to 66. It is one of three contracts this year that will include installation of closed circuit television cameras.
Missouri is the first state in the nation to award a project that will use federal grant funds provided through the Rural Safety Innovation Program. To take advantage of these funds, states were encouraged to use technology to make rural roads safer. They also had to act quickly because the money had to be obligated during the current federal fiscal year.
The permanent signs, along with the cameras, will be installed along Interstates 55 and 57 and U.S. 60 to inform motorists about road closings, accidents and hazardous road conditions. MoDOT staff will use the cameras, which provide real-time traffic video, to monitor traffic flow and manage incidents on the roadways. The tool will provide valuable visual support to operators who assist in managing incidents and monitoring traffic flow. It will enable them to verify an incident and instantly send an alert to the appropriate message boards, such as “Accident ahead. Be prepared to stop.”
The signs are located where they’re easy to see and near exits so travelers can decide to get off the highway if traffic is backed up. Messages can be changed instantaneously with the push of a computer button.
“We’ve seen the safety benefits of getting timely travel information to motorists with these signs, so we were thrilled to get additional funding to install more cameras and message boards,” said Don Hillis, MoDOT’s director of system management.