Federal stimulus money aids area projects

Three roadways in Pettis County will be resurfaced in the coming years with stimulus funding left over from other projects, the Missouri Department of Transportation announced.

The Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission recently approved 13 road resurfacing projects in Mid-Missouri. MoDOT District Planning Manager Mike Dusenberg said additional funding is available because many projects came in below estimates during the initial bidding process for American Recovery and Reinvestment Act projects in the state.

Eric Schroeter, assistant district engineer with MoDOT, attributed the positive bidding environment to low oil and fuel prices, along with a challenging economic climate that created much competition for work.

“With the economy and competition among contractors, we’ve had a lot of contracts come in below what we anticipated,” Schroeter said.

“Statewide, we’ve seen bids on ARRA-projects come in about 10 percent under budget,” Dusenberg said. “In Central Missouri, that means we have about $5 million we can redirect back into our roadways.”

The deadlines and regulations associated with the original stimulus projects still apply, Schroeter said. That means the projects selected were required to be in cities with a population greater than 5,000, and the funding must be obligated by the early part of 2010.

Those deadlines eliminated projects that would have required MoDOT to purchase right of ways from city and county governments or those that would have called for new, complex planning work.

Dusenberg said the funding targeted projects for which funding could be obligated by the stimulus deadlines and those that would “bring economic benefit to as many communities as possible.”

“These (projects) were ones we had already identified, so we could prepare the plans by the deadlines,” Schroeter said. “We didn’t get any time extension for these.”

Of the 13 Central District projects approved, three will be in Pettis County with one in Cooper County. The others will be spread across Boone, Miller and Cole counties.

The Pettis County roadways to be resurfaced with the stimulus funding include:

•Route 765, from railroad tracks to U.S. Highway 65 in Sedalia.

•State Route P, at various locations within the Missouri State Fairgrounds in Sedalia.

•State Route Y, from west of U.S. Highway 65 to Quisenberry Road in Sedalia.
In Cooper County, state Route 87 will be resurfaced from Interstate 70 to Main Street in Boonville.
Schroeter said MoDOT will select contractors in December and January, in time for construction to begin next spring.