Shoulders fOr Safety

Two Additional Fatalities Rachet Up Quest for Shoulders

   March 5, 2010

 by Dianne Sudbrock

On  February 14, 2010, Daniel Windler of Defiance was killed on Hwy. DD as he was walking to back to his car which had slid in the ditch. On February 12, 2010, Cindy L. Provence of Defiance died from injuries she suffered January 11, 2010 in a rollover accident on Hwy. 94 between Defiance and Hwy. 40. Mrs. Provence and Mr. Windler were the 10th and 11th fatalities in the past 13 months on Hwys. D, DD, Z, F and 94. That’s a gruesome average of one fatality every 5-1/2 weeks.

Shoulders fOr Safety, a local citizens group, has been working since last fall to draw attention and find funding for building shoulders on the above mentioned roads. This small group of about 15-20 concerned residents has been working diligently to raise awareness and ask for help. They have made hundreds of contacts, attended numerous public meetings, met with local, state and federal elected officials, traveled twice to lobby for support in Jefferson City, researched grant possibilities, sought and obtained some private industry cost share investment, and collected over 2500 signatures which they presented to State Senator Scott Rupp at a town hall meeting they organized last fall.

In addition, SOS has won the support of St. Charles County Executive Steve Ehlmann and the St. Charles County Road Board. On February 17, 2010 the Road Board, which dispenses funds from the county’s half-cent transportation sales tax, at Ehlmann’s suggestion, made a recommendation to the County Council to provide up to $3 million in cost sharing dollars for shoulders. (See adjacent article.) The County Council is expected to vote on that recommendation on March 8, 2010.

KTVI Fox2 News was scheduled to air a special segment on the dangers presented by lack of shoulders on Tuesday, March 2, 2010 during their 9 p.m. news broadcast.

The Boone Country Connection

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As the SOS group continues their efforts to explore every possible avenue for funding, they are asking for additional communication from the community in the form of letters of support. These letters are particularly desired from area businesses, schools, government entities and other community organizations (law enforcement, Chambers of Commerce, athletic clubs, Veterans organizations, professional associations, etc.) A template containing suggested content for the letter is available at the SOS website, www.shouldersforsafety.org.

The letters will be collected by SOS and may be used to substantiate need/community support in the event an applicable grant opportunity arises. The letters may also be forwarded to elected officials and/or be distributed as part of informational packets provided to various individuals or governing entities, such as the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission, the East-West Gateway Coordinating Council, and others.

In addition, any concerned citizens are also urged to contact their elected officials personally. Contact information for elected officials is available at the SOS website.

One member of the SOS group recently wrote to Governor Jay Nixon, and in return, received a response from Jim Gremaud, MoDOT Area Engineer for St. Charles County, stating that MoDOT agrees that the request to allocate funds to make more timely and substantial improvements to these roadways is warranted. Gremaud explained that MoDOT maintenance forces have been addressing edge drop off conditions along Routes D and DD and they will continue working on this problem on these and other routes this spring.  He also said, “In addition we are designing projects that will add small paved shoulders to many miles of Route 94, D and DD in this area. We understand your concerns and are hopeful we can identify the funding necessary to get some of these improvements under construction within the next year.”

On February 18, 2010, Gremaud attended the New Melle Chamber of Commerce meeting where he gave an overview of MoDOT’s plans for future projects locally and across the state. He explained funding requirements, which far exceed current and expected revenues.  He explained that Missouri received $525M from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (stimulus plan) which is helping MoDOT complete several projects that would not otherwise be funded. In St. Charles County $43 million of those funds have been allocated to complete a portion of the Page Avenue extension from west of Harvester to Central School Road. Gremaud said MoDOT is hopeful that a second stimulus bill will provide additional funding to get some other projects done. The need for additional stimulus money was also expressed by Kevin Keith, MoDOT Chief Engineer in Jefferson City in a conversation he had with SOS members on February 16. More information on MoDOT’s current and future projects, funding needs and significant other information is available at www.modot.mo.gov.