Click the thumbnail below for a video recap of news across the state.

View the Express Lane video for the March 19 edition.

Keeping Missouri highways litter-free is a team effort

Do your part by picking up litter and securing your loads

In 2025, MoDOT spent $13 million and 154,000 labor hours to remove litter from more than 385,000 acres of right of way along nearly 34,000 state highway miles.


That might seem like a lot of numbers but it represents a lot of trash. MoDOT doesn't put the litter on the roads, but its crews are the ones responsible for picking it up, diverting time, resources and taxpayer dollars away from other important projects.


Keeping Missouri’s highways clean is a shared responsibility. MoDOT, contractors and volunteers work hard to pick up litter that shouldn’t be there. MoDOT is asking all Missourians to be responsible for securing loads and putting litter in its proper place. 


There are litter-prevention resources available for those interested in supporting the ongoing beautification efforts:


  • No MOre Trash! – Missouri’s statewide litter-prevention campaign includes educational tools, prevention tips and cleanup programs to help clean up Missouri roadways. 
  • Keeping Missouri Beautiful – MoDOT’s volunteer litter pickup program for Missouri state routes. Volunteer groups may sign up and perform one-time litter cleanup events that are coordinated through MoDOT’s district offices. MoDOT provides trash bags, safety vests and safety guidance before each event.
  • Sponsor-A-Highway – Groups, organizations and businesses can sponsor a highway and pay a private company to clean up litter on their behalf. This program is currently only available in the Kansas City and St. Louis areas.


Contact your local MoDOT office about opportunities to volunteer and do your part to eliminate litter in Missouri.

MoDOT employees save unresponsive driver from burning car

Last month, MoDOT maintenance employees Chris Dreste, Derek Wise and Luke Ruppel found an unconscious driver in a wrecked vehicle alongside Missouri Route 133. The crew quickly stopped to help. Dreste handled traffic control while Wise and Ruppel extracted the driver from the car before it was engulfed in flames. The three men received a Meritorious Safety Award for their rapid response and life-saving bravery. Click here for a video.

Highway Safety Spotlight: Vehicle Extrication Training Prop

Some crashes are so severe that surviving passengers become trapped in the mangled vehicle wreckage. Vehicle extrication, the process of cutting through doors, roofs, etc. to remove a crash victim, is crucial to getting injured survivors the medical care they need. MoDOT provides highway safety grant funding to ensure fire departments have the equipment, and training, to speed up extrication times. Learn more.

Youth Transportation Conference applications due April 24

MoDOT's 2026 Youth Transportation Conference (YTC) will be held July 6-10 in Jefferson City. Applications require at least one letter of recommendation and are open now through April 24 for students currently in grades 8-12. Up to 40 students will be selected to attend. YTC allows students to apply STEM concepts to real-world transportation challenges through hands-on exercises and other activities such as field trips. Learn more.

Women's History Month in Transportation: Margaret A. Wilcox

Born in 1838, Margaret Wilcox made (heat)waves as a mechanical engineer and inventor in a male-dominated profession. Inspired by the frigid Chicago winters, she experimented with channeling the heat generated by trains inside to warm passengers. While the extreme heat trains generate was too much to regulate, her "car heater" invention caught on with automobile makers, inspiring modern climate controls. Learn more.

April Event Calendar

April 9

4:30-6:30 p.m.

Public Meeting

Sugar Creek, MO

MO Route 291 River Bridge Design-Build Project

April 20-24

National Work Zone Awareness Week

More information to come

April 30

4-7 p.m.

Public Meeting

St. Louis, MO

I-64 bridge replacement project

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Contact Us

Missouri Dept. of Transportation

www.modot.org

888-275-6636

P.O. Box 270 

Jefferson City, MO 65102-0270

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Send comments and suggestions to:

justin.wright@modot.mo.gov