A Midwest Construction Profile

$2 Billion in Bonds Pave Way For Road Projects in Missouri

by Pamela Dittmer McKuen

Aging roads and bridges throughout the "Show Me" state are seeing new life, thanks to voter support, design innovations and aggressive new leadership.

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"The big message from Missouri is we're committed to improving our roads," says Pete Rahn, director of the Missouri Department of Transportation. "Transportation is simply too important to the way we live and to our economy, and we can't afford not to do it."

A multitude of major improvement projects are under way, made possible when voters in 2004 agreed to an amendment that allows MoDOT to sell nearly $2 billion in bonds for that purpose. Repayment begins in 2009.

"Everyone recognized that our roads were in horrible condition," Rahn says. "This is a citizens' initiative that is enabling us to transform the condition of our roads from among the worst to among the best. The money will come to an end, but in the meantime, we are going to squeeze every dime of benefit out of what we have."
Rahn, who also serves as vice president of the Washington, D.C.-based American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, came to the Missouri post in 2004. Before that, he was cabinet secretary for the New Mexico State Highway and Transportation Department. He's got two bachelor's degrees, one in government and the other in city and regional planning, both from New Mexico State University in Las Cruces.

He works with a staff in Missouri of 6,400 employees and a six-member governor-appointed commission. Together they are responsible for 32,000 mi of highway and 10,224 bridges.

One of MoDot's biggest budget-stretching measures is the low-frills construction approach the agency calls Practical Design, under which every project in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program is critically evaluated for essential safety elements. Any nonessentials are eliminated.

For example, depending on the location, concrete barriers may substitute for grassy medians or rock slope stabilization used instead of retaining walls. In two years, more than $500 million in savings has been redirected to other projects.

Here's a look at the major ones:

Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Plan

Eight hundred bridges are slated for rehabilitation within the next five years. This summer MoDOT will select a contractor to do the work and maintain the bridges for 25 years. The expected cost is between $400 million and $600 million.

About 1,000 bridges are deficient, but those with severe or unique environmental or safety concerns were removed from the package.

"The idea was to turn over to the contractor a pretty clean list without other design concerns," Rahn says. "We're going to have to work on the hard ones within our existing program."

To the bidders, the state offers some unusual terms: It will pay for the job when it's finished.

"If they get it done in four years, we'll start paying them then," Rahn adds. "I consider that a self-funding incentive." It's unusual to pay for a project of this magnitude after the fact without money down. Paying later helps MoDOT conserve funds and budget ahead.

Better Roads, Brighter Future Program

Over the next five years, 3,400 mi of major highways will be upgraded with paved shoulders, smooth pavement and new and brighter signs and stripes. Multiple contractors are working on various portions of the project, which will cost about $1.1 billion.

The Better Roads, Brighter Future Program is a continuation of the recently completed two-year Smooth Roads Initiative, which improved 2,200 mi. When completed, 85% of Missouri's roads will have been brought up to good condition.

"This new program delivers three tremendous benefits-it will save lives, create jobs and save motorists money," Rahn says.

The improved roads will prevent 85 disabling injuries and save 10 lives every year as calculated by MoDot's Transportation Planning and Highway Safety divisions. In 2006, Missouri had 1,096 fatalities and 8,144 disabling injuries.

Interstate 64 Rebuild

Begun this spring is the reconstruction of a 10.5-mi stretch of heavily congested Interstate 64, roughly between Spoede Road and Kingshighway Boulevard in St. Louis. The project includes repaving, widening lanes and rebuilding 30 bridges and 12 interchanges. With a price tag of $535 million, it's the state's largest road improvement project ever.

Instead of following the traditional design-build process, in which contractors are asked to bid on a specific project, MoDOT took a different route.

"We said, here's the footprint, here's how much money we have and when we want the job completed," Rahn says. "Tell us how much you'll give us for that price in that time. We were very impressed with what they came up with."

Bidders were not limited by MoDOT specifications but could use any industry-approved models in the country. The winning bid came from Gateway Constructors, a joint venture led by Watsonville, Calif.-based Granite Construction Co. Other members are Fred Weber Inc. of Creve Coeur, Mo., and Millstone-Bangert of St. Charles, Mo.

Project designers are URS Corp. of San Francisco and Parsons Transportation Group of Pasadena, Calif.

Gateway offered almost everything MoDOT wanted, including completely closing half the highway-in both directions-for a year at a time.

"Usually the goal is to keep traffic flowing, which means setting up traffic control scenarios and putting up temporary concrete barriers, which add time and cost without adding to the amount of concrete you can put down," says Dan Galvin, spokesperson for Gateway and Granite. "By doing full closures, we can get in there and out and not worry about people driving past us at 70 mph." If two lanes of traffic in each direction had to be maintained at all times, the roadwork would take six years, rather than two years, he adds.

This year the work centers on the Interstate 170 interchange, a major north-south connector at the center of the project. The new interchange will help speed the distribution of traffic to alternate east-west roads. Half of the I-64 segment will be closed for rebuilding in 2008, and the other half will be closed in 2009. Completion is scheduled for summer 2010.

A New Mississippi Bridge

Although several bridges cross the Mississippi River in the St. Louis area, only one, the Poplar Street Bridge, serves major interstates and takes commuters and tourists directly downtown. Delays are common and lengthy.

MoDOT proposed an additional bridge north of the Edward D. Jones Dome. The first design called for an eight-lane, cable-stayed structure with three planes of cables and twin delta pylons, soaring 330 ft above the roadway. Possible price tag: $1 billion. Possible completion: 2015.

How to pay for it has been the subject of debate between MoDOT, the Illinois Department of Transportation and state and federal legislators for a couple of years.

Among the ideas bandied about: Build a scaled-down, four-lane bridge now for $600 million and add on later; build an eight-lane bridge now because adding on will cost more in the long run; and add lanes to an existing bridge. Rahn's early desire for a toll bridge has been abandoned, and he is amenable to a scaled-down design.

"There are indications of progress," says IDOT spokesperson Mike Claffey. "Both Missouri and IDOT see the need for additional lanes and are engaged in ongoing discussion on how to provide them."

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