Eight counties | 36 cities | one region

Vicki Bade, representing Maries County on the Transportation Advisory Committee, votes for the regions top transportation priorites at their meeting on Dec. 14.

ST. JAMES — The Meramec Region’s Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) decided the expansions of Highways 63 and 50 to four-lane corridors remain the number one and two regional transportation priorities, respectively, at its December meeting. The proposed projects on Highway 63 and Highway 50 have topped the regional priority list for several years.

Once it was decided these two projects should continue to be top priorities for the region, TAC members from each county shared the top three additional transportation needs from their counties. The TAC then voted to prioritize these additional needs on a regional level. The prioritized list was approved later in evening by the Meramec Regional Planning Commission (MRPC) board and will now be shared with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) Central District office for the projects for consideration for inclusion in MoDOT’s Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP). The STIP is a five-year plan for design and construction projects.

In addition to the projects on Highways 63 and 50, other items topping the TAC’s priority list as high or medium priority, in order of priority, are:

• Address safety concerns at the Gasconade County R-2 school entrances and Owensville industrial park entrance from the Highway 28 junction to north city limits on MO 19 in Owensville;
• Replace one-lane bridge over Little Bourbeuse River on Route C in Crawford County;
• Replace bridge over Big River on Route C in Washington County;
• Improve Safety at the intersection of Route CC and County Road 801 at the State Technical College in Osage County;
• Improve traffic flow on Highway 63 in Rolla from University Drive to the Interstate 44 overpass;
• Add two left turn lanes from Missouri Avenue to Eastlawn Drive in Pulaski County;
• Replace bridge over Gladden Creek on MO 19 in Dent County;
• Replace bridge over Norman Creek on Route FF in Dent County;
• Address alignment concerns and adding shoulders to MO 68 from Phelps County Line to Route 19 in Dent County;
• Improve safety to the intersection of Route E and MO 63 in Osage County;
• Improve safety to MO 42 east in Maries County;
• Improve the intersections at Route V outer road and Hwy 63 in Phelps County;
• Add a left turn lane onto Lindburg Road from MO 19 in Crawford County; and
• Address width concerns of Bridge over Dry Fork Creek on MO 28 in Maries County.

The priority list is an annual planning exercise for the TAC.

Also during the evening, the TAC heard an update on the Missouri Rock Island Trail project from Greg Harris, the executive director of the Missouri Rock Island Trail. Harris was requesting a letter of support from the TAC to encourage the state of Missouri to accept the trail from Ameren Missouri. While the state under the Nixon administration accepted the trail, Gov. Greitens had requested additional public comment on the issue. The TAC decided to provide a limited letter of support, supporting the trail project in the cities of Bland, Belle and Owensville where the municipalities have already begun fundraising and work on the trail projects. The limited letter of support was due to the concerns of some TAC members about property rights where the trail goes through individuals farms.

Persons needing more information on MRPC’s Transportation Advisory Committee may contact MRPC at (573) 265-2993. For more information on Transportation needs in the region or other programs offered by MRPC, follow them on Facebook at www.facebook.com/meramecregion or visit www.meramecregion.org.

Formed in 1969, MRPC is a voluntary council of governments serving Crawford, Dent, Gasconade, Maries, Osage, Phelps, Pulaski and Washington counties and their respective cities. A professional staff of 22, directed by the MRPC board, offers technical assistance and services, such as grant preparation and administration, housing assistance, transportation planning, environmental planning, ordinance codification, business loans and other services to member communities.