Aug. 18, 2022

Spring rains recently caused flash flooding along several routes throughout the Southeast District. While closing routes in Texas and Shannon counties, Summersville Senior Maintenance Workers James Fiske, Samuel Peifer and James Buschmann helped a stranded motorist on Route YY with a story they will never forget. 

Upon arrival, they found a woman stranded in the floodwaters, still in her car. Water levels were near the window of her door, and she was panicked. Residents close to the area had heard the woman screaming and called MoDOT for help. Another motorist had also stopped to assist, and they had a winch on their vehicle. At first, they tried to use the winch to pull her car out, but the car started to slide down river. At this point, Fiske used the winch to wade into the water toward the stranded motorist. The woman in the car was still screaming, and he tried to calm her down as he reached the vehicle. While the stranded motorist was unable to open the car door, Fiske convinced her to climb out the window with his help.  

“My plan was for her to walk with me out of the floodwaters,” said Fiske. “Instead, she balled up like a squirrel around me, so I carried her out of the water.” 

Peifer and Buschmann assisted by operating the winch. Once they had the woman safely out of the floodwaters, Fiske placed her on the ground because her legs gave out. Peifer and Buschmann talked with the woman to calm her down. “There was no way that this motorist would have made it to dry land without assistance,” said Peifer. 

Each of the three employees were recently awarded a Safety Certificate of Appreciation for their rescue efforts. 

Three Southeast District employees receive their safety certificates from district leadership. Pictured left to right: Assistant District Engineer Chris Rutledge, Senior Maintenance Workers Samuel Peifer, James Buschmann and James Fiske, and District Engineer Mark Croarkin.

Earlier this month, Missouri State Representative Ingrid Burnette had the opportunity to see firsthand how valuable Kansas City’s emergency responders are. 

After Motorist Assistance Operations Supervisor Scott Banes helped Burnette with a flat tire, she took the extra effort to call and text her gratitude. 

“I thought you would like to know that we had a very pleasant encounter with a MoDOT roadside assistance driver," Burnette wrote. "Our car blew a flat tire as we were in a highway on ramp. It was a rental car, so we called their roadside assistance. While we waited and waited for a responder, a MoDOT truck pulled up behind us with lights flashing and got us back on the road long before I ever heard back from Avis. His name is Scott Banes. He was super friendly and helpful. He didn't realize I am a State Rep until he was leaving. They really are road angels, and I am so grateful he was there.”

Banes said he appreciates the compliment.

Kansas City Motorist Assistance Operations Supervisor Scott Banes.

“It’s a great feeling of satisfaction getting people back on the road,” he said. “It’s an awesome program that we are fortunate that MoDOT supports.”

Gov. Mike Parson is celebrating investment in Missouri's infrastructure by touring rural transportation projects across the state. The August visits include projects from the Governor's Focus on Bridges program, the new rural roads program and other projects that are improving infrastructure in Missouri's rural communities.

Gov. Parson visited Kirksville to celebrate a joint project to add a center turn lane on Route 63 to address increased traffic and economic development in the area. It's a $2 million joint effort between the city and MoDOT, which is part of the Governor's Transportation Cost-Share Program.

Across the state, this program matches up to 50% of the construction contract costs for selected projects with the goal of building partnerships with local communities to deliver road and bridge projects with economic benefit.

Gov. Parson speaks at the event in Kirksville. Pictured left to right: Gov. Parson, Deputy Director/Chief Engineer Ed Hassinger and Northeast District Engineer Paula Gough.

Gov. Parson speaks at the event in Maryville. Pictured left to right: Gov. Parson, Commissioner Terry Ecker, Director Patrick McKenna, Northwest District Engineer Martin Liles. 

Another stop included celebrating two bridges near Maryville. The Mozingo Creek and Long Branch bridges on Route 136 are part of the $351 million Focus on Bridges program that is repairing or replacing 250 bridges across the state.

The governor spoke to the gathered crowd about his commitment to investing in transportation and infrastructure throughout all regions of the state - urban and rural. District Engineer Marty Liles, Director McKenna and Commissioner Terry Ecker also spoke at the event.

The event was attended by Sen. Hegeman, the construction crew from lead contractor Phillips Hardy, Inc., local officials from the city of Maryville and Nodaway County, local law enforcement, Mozingo Lake Recreation Park staff, representatives from Northwest Missouri State University, MoDOT construction and maintenance staff, and local media.

The bridge was under construction during the governor’s visit but was completed and reopened to all traffic Aug. 16.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission recently approved the Fiscal Year 2023-2027 Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, which includes an historic level of $1.9 billion for improvements to rural roads and bridges across the state.

Sept. 1 will start the next ENGAGE 2.0 evaluation period, which will end on Sept. 30.

Supervisors should continue to meet with employees and hold ENGAGE 2.0 conversations as outlined in the new ENGAGE 2.0 calendar shown below. As a best practice, MoDOT encourages supervisors to hold ENGAGE 2.0 conversations during the evaluation period as well, but it is not required. Supervisors should also be sharing the evaluation information with their staff at least twice a year during the debriefing conversations in April and October. 

For questions about ENGAGE 2.0, please email [email protected].

Please note dashboards for the September 2022 evaluation period will close on Sept. 30, 2022. 

For more ENGAGE 2.0 information, click here.

Several MoDOT team members from across the state have volunteered to attend this year's Missouri State Fair to help educate guests visiting MODOT's Highway Gardens on the Buckle Up Phone Down campaign, work zone safety and more. Thank you to all our volunteers!

Communications Specialist Cole Duenckel and Roadside Management Intern Blake Moore hand out state maps and help educate the public in MoDOT's Highway Gardens building.

Additionally, MoDOT has partnered with Truckers Against Trafficking to bring the Freedom Drivers Project traveling exhibit to the fair.

A first-of-its-kind mobile exhibit, the Freedom Drivers Project is a premiere tool in educating the public about the realities of domestic trafficking and how the trucking industry is combating it.

In 2018, Director McKenna signed the Transportation Leaders Against Human Trafficking pledge, committing MoDOT to providing specialized training to employees about the common indicators of human trafficking and how to report potential cases, while raising public awareness of human trafficking issues impacting our state and nation.

For more information about MoDOT’s efforts to “Put the Brakes on Human Trafficking,” visit modot.org/fighthumantrafficking.

Getting enough exercise is vital to our physical and emotional health, but not all of us are born with the desire to hit the gym or treadmill. If you’re feeling the need to exercise but are having a hard time getting motivated, try these small steps:

• Look for opportunities to reduce sedentary time and to increase active time. Instead of watching TV, try taking a walk or a jog after dinner.
• Schedule specific times for physical activity to make it part of your daily or weekly routine.
• Start with activities, locations and times you enjoy. Try to organize a pickup game at a nearby court, or see if there’s a sports league in your area.
• Try activities with friends or family members to help with motivation and mutual encouragement.
• Start slowly and work your way up to more physically challenging activities.
• When necessary, break up your daily activity goal into smaller amounts of time. Chop the 30-minute-a-day exercise routine into three 10-minute sessions or two 15-minute sessions. Just make sure the shorter sessions are at least 10 minutes long.

The Interstate 44 Pavement Improvement and Missouri Route 744/Mulroy Road Bridge Rehabilitation projects are in full swing in the Southwest District. These projects, between Springfield and Strafford, will replace pavement on I-44 at the Missouri Route 744/Mulroy Road interchange (mile marker 84), extend both eastbound I-44 ramps and the westbound I-44 on-ramp, make I-44 median drainage improvements and seal the Missouri Route 744/Mulroy Road bridge driving surface over I-44. 

Last week, crews closed the eastbound I-44 lanes at mile marker 84 and began diverting traffic up and over the newly paved I-44 on- and off-ramps. Prior to this, crews had been working around the clock to extend the eastbound I-44 ramps, which are now used as lanes to avoid the I-44 mainline closure. The traffic shift to the ramps is scheduled to last until the week of Aug. 22. So far, the project has meant minimal delays for drivers.

A section of Interstate 44 in Springfield being replaced.

This interchange is a busy one, servicing an industrial park with several trucking companies and other businesses. Springfield Resident Engineer Brad Gripka and contractor Emery Sapp & Sons of Columbia have kept in contact with these companies to minimize the impact to their operations. Message boards have been placed throughout the northeast side of Springfield and the west side of Strafford to keep drivers aware of the changes to this intersection.

This project includes the Chestnut Expressway Pavement Improvement Project between I-44 and Broadview Place in Springfield, which was completed in mid-June. The overall project completion date is set for Nov. 1, 2022.

Senior Environmental Specialist Caleb Knerr recently gave a presentation to Columbia preschool and kindergarten classes about freshwater mussels. In an experiment, he showed how the mussels filter water to eat and breathe, keeping the water around them clear and clean.

“It’s a lot of fun to work with mussels. They’re a really cool example of an animal that provides an ecosystem service, and they’re indicators of good water quality,” Knerr said.

Senior Environmental Specialist Caleb Knerr holds a freshwater mussel as part of the relocation effort of a project this summer.

Part of Knerr’s work at MoDOT involves looking for mussels on new bridge projects. MoDOT works with the Department of Conservation to keep track of state and federally protected mussel locations, and Knerr’s team looks at each project to know if it’s going to impact any of the protected species. If so, the departments work together to eliminate the likelihood of negative impact or, in some cases, relocate the mussels to a suitable habitat. This summer, Knerr assisted on the relocation of 18,000 mussels from a Southeast District project. 

He hopes his work to educate others is as impactful as his work to protect Missouri’s vulnerable species.

“I love spending time outdoors whether it’s on (or in) the water any chance I can,” Knerr said. “I’ve been inspired by individuals at different agencies who have encouraged me to raise awareness for these underappreciated and often overlooked organism. I’m just trying to pass along the same inspiration, and hopefully it all helps to protect and maintain a healthy environment for everyone.”

As swiftly as I seemingly began my MoDOT internship in May, it is just as swiftly coming to a close. I have had many wonderful opportunities to work on a variety of projects for MoDOT this summer and had one last chance to reflect and share some of my experience here.

Perhaps the most significant project with which I lent a hand was the MoDOT Traveler Guide promotional video. This was an exciting team project, and while it helped to sharpen many of my own skills, it will, no doubt, serve to help many others.

Most recently, however, I had the opportunity to create a project rendering for the new Missouri Route 79 viaduct in Hannibal - a challenge, indeed! I spoke with Project Manager Chris Knapp and Utilities Engineer Zach Walker and was able to gather a picture of what the projected viaduct would look like once it is completed next summer. The hard part was interpreting the blueprints and plans, so I was assisted by my father, Senior Highway Designer Chuck Schumann. I was then able to lay a sketched rendering out on paper. From there, I was able to use my skills to complete and convert the rendering. It was new, challenging ground for me, and it was very fascinating to undertake! The Communications team wasted no time placing it into the newly created project page!

This project is a good way to sum up my internship: expanding my skills, and in turn, expanding my horizons. Many of the things I did this summer were new to me and tested me in various ways. It has been a privilege to be a part of the Northeast District team these past few months and to lend my hand to creative projects I know will have a lasting effect! 

For now, Communications Intern Evan Schumann signing off.

Drive safely, Missouri!

Deanna Culver - NW - 30

Robert Deters - NE - 28

Robey Farr - NE - 39

Ronald Wasmer - KC - 13

Donald Dipley - SW - 17

Brian Heisner - SW - 6

James Eagles - SW - 25

Regina Pearce - SW - 27

Steven Howell - SW - 30

Charles Damron - SE - 23

Leroy Devonshire - SE - 15

Jay Bestgen - CO - 31

Kenneth Tuttle - CO - 30

Karen Reinkemeyer - CO - 31

Rhonette Andrews - CO - 16

The mission of Connections is to be a source of MoDOT news

and feature articles that connect employees statewide.

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Editor: Sr. Communications Specialist Bethany Belt

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