 |
Engineers evaluating April flood damages and repair solutions
FHWA and MoDOT engineers are in the process of viewing flood damaged sites around the state. To date, they are working on the damage review/assessment process for
403
locations including six in Northeast District,
4
8 in Central District, 2
4
in St. Louis District, 119 in Southwest District and 20
6
in the Southeast District.
 Missouri still has 11 state roads closed due to flooding - down from a high of 384 on April 30. MoDOT crews continue to monitor these roads, working to clean debris and check for damage as the water recedes. These checks must be done before the road is safe to reopen.
Jefferson County Route M remains closed between Interstate 55 and U.S. Routes 61/67 due to a major slide. MoDOT staff is working to determine right-of-way limits and see if temporary construction easements will need to be purchased to make corrections. It is unknown at this time how long this road will remain closed.
Three roads are reduced to one-lane traffic due to pavement damage from slides including Shannon County Route 106, Reynolds County Route 106 and Gasconade County Route 100.
There are three roads closed due to pavement damage including Route HH below Clearwater Lake, Route T below Lake Wappapello and Ozark County Route JJ.
Three bridges were a total loss from flood damage including two in Ozark County Route CC over N. Fork White River at Dora and Route PP over N. Fork River, and Pulaski County Route NN over Elliot Branch.
|
|
|
|
Take the pledge: when you get into any vehicle, buckle up your safety belt. If you are a driver, put the cellphone down. Join the 502 people (108) of which represent business) who have taken the pledge so far.
Click below to accept the challenge!
|
|
|
|
Kansas City District announces appointment of new district engineer
 MoDOT announced the appointment of Brian Kidwell as the Kansas City District's new district engineer. Kidwell has served as the assistant district engineer of program delivery for the KC District since 2011. The KC District covers a nine-county region including Cass, Clay, Jackson, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, Platte, Ray and Saline counties. This includes a total population of
1,285,863, and 3,083 miles of state highways to maintain.
"I am excited and humbled by the opportunity to lead MoDOT's Kansas City District team," Kidwell said. "My goal is to build and develop relationships inside and outside MoDOT to ensure a collaborative, sincere and personal approach in delivering a safe and effective transportation system for our deserving community."
Before his role as the assistant district engineer, Kidwell served as project director for MoDOT's $245 million Interstate 29/35 design-build "kcICON" project featuring the award-winning Christopher S. Bond Missouri River Bridge. The kcICON project was selected as the country's top road project of 2010 by Roads and Bridges, a national transportation-industry magazine.
Kidwell has been with the department for more than 26 years managing highway projects in the Kansas City region. "Having spent 26 years with MoDOT in a variety of roles, and as a proud Missouri native, my respect runs deep for our hardworking MoDOT employees. Many of our employees make significant sacrifices as they serve the public, our community leaders and other stakeholders," he said.
Kidwell earned his bachelor of science in civil engineering degree from the University of Missouri-Rolla.
|
|
Road checks emphasize cargo securement
Secure your load each and every trip
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) 30th annual International Roadcheck will take place June 6-8, 2017. Over a 72-hour period, CVSA-certified commercial motor vehicle inspectors in jurisdictions throughout North America will conduct inspections of commercial motor vehicles and their drivers.
 This year's special emphasis is cargo securement. Small and big rigs alike need to pay special attention to securing their loads. "Secure your load as if everyone you love is driving in the car behind you," said MoDOT Director of Highway Safety Bill Whitfield. "There were over 1,300 crashes in 2016 that involved vehicles hitting an object or obstruction in the roadway. Eight of them were fatal."
Not only will securing loads save lives by preventing crashes from falling cargo and debris, but it will continue the fight against litter on Missouri's roadways. MoDOT currently spends $6 million per year picking up trash. The adopt-a-highway members also do another $1 million worth of litter pickup each year.
International Roadcheck is the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial motor vehicles in the world. Nearly 17 trucks or buses are inspected, on average, every minute in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico during a 72-hour period.
For more information on Missouri highway safety visit
www.saveMOlives.com, or social media at Save MO Lives.
|
|
|
|
New pedestrian awareness campaign kicks off June 12 - s
afety starts with you
On June 12, the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety will launch a new week-long campaign focusing on pedestrian safety. The campaign will be geared toward pedestrians and drivers, educating both about what to watch out for to ensure everyone is safe.
Statewide, from 2013-2016, a total of 347 pedestrians were killed, and 1,021 were seriously injured.
 |
|
|
Click above to watch a short video on pedestrian safety.
|
The top five pedestrian contributing factors involved in the 347 fatalities were failure to yield (100 fatalities), alcohol impairment (55 fatalities), distraction/inattention (44 fatalities), drug impairment (20 fatalities) and physical impairment (11 fatalities).
"We want to be sure that citizens are as safe as possible in all modes of transportation," said Bill Whitfield, chair of the coalition's executive committee. "We encourage all drivers, cyclists and pedestrians to make safe choices so everyone, no matter the mode of transportation, makes it to their destination safe."
Keep the following pedestrian safety tips in mind anytime you walk:
- Drivers and pedestrians need to make eye contact with each other. Don't assume that the other one has seen you.
- If you must exit a stalled vehicle alongside the roadway, do so on the opposite side of traffic and do not attempt to walk across the oncoming traffic.
- Only cross at an intersection or crosswalk - stepping out from between parked cars or other obstacles by the road can keep a driver from being able to see you and stop in time.
- Look left, right and then left again before crossing an intersection or crosswalk - you always want to double check the lane that you'll be entering first.
- Be aware of drivers even when you are in a designated crosswalk - drivers can look and use their mirrors, but there are always blind spots.
- Avoid walking with headphones in - you won't to be able to hear if a car is coming.
- Always wear brightly colored clothing for visibility when exercising alongside a roadway.
- Always walk against the flow of traffic rather than with the traffic.
- Always be cautious when exiting parking lots, and be on the lookout for pedestrians.
Click here to watch the Spanish version of the pedestrian safety video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSmgKwEG5Jc.
For more information, visit savemolives.com or follow us on Facebook and Twitter at Save MO Lives.
|
|
|
Fatality update
|
Did you know...
between 2012-2014, 56 commercial motor vehicle drivers were killed in crashes - 51 percent of those drivers were unrestrained.
|
Statewide Fatality Totals
as reported on the
Missouri State Highway Patrol
website as of June 4, 2017:
2017 Totals as of 6-4-17 - 333
2016 Totals as of 6-4-16 - 356
2015 Totals as of 6-4-15 - 312
2014 Totals as of 6-4-14 - 294
2013 Totals as of 6-4-13 - 262
2012 Totals as of 6-4-12 - 340
|
 |
|
|
Missouri Dept. of Transportation | (888) 275-6636
P.O. Box 270 Jefferson City, MO 65102-0270
|
|
|
|
|
