Our last blog related to the roads got quite a bit of attention. We feel it is only fair to update the community with what we know now.
This conversation will focus on the hard surface roads in Northeast Missouri. We will not spend time discussing county-maintained roads.
We want to make something clear, from the beginning, that none of our concerns with the Missouri Department of Transportation are directed at the local crews. The local crews have done their best, with what little they have had to work with and with less than impressive communication from upper management at MODOT. It is our understanding that they are usually left in the dark.
First, we must start by admitting that what we believed to be true regarding the interaction between Terra-Gen and the Missouri Department of Transportation was incorrect. Unfortunately, we feel the reality of this interaction is worse. After conversations with the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), we have learned that the $2.8 million that MODOT received from Terra-Gen, was considered a "gift." This "gift" was given to MODOT due to poor public perception and reception of the High Prairie project. You Are Welcome??
Why is this worse? Well, simply, it means that MODOT has no authority over Terra-Gen or any other wind company and/or private entity that destroys the roads that are managed by MODOT. What this means, if Terra-Gen had not provided MODOT with $2.8 million, then ALL REPAIRS would be paid for with TAXPAYER dollars. Any repairs needed beyond the $2.8 million will be done using taxpayer dollars. (Whether you support the project or not, this should infuriate you.)Do you think this is appropriate? The Missouri Department of Transportation does not have the ability to refuse to allow these companies to use the roadways or to limit their use of the roads. Essentially, like everything else related to these projects in Missouri, the wind companies can operate without oversight or repercussions and taxpayers foot the bill.
You may be asking about overweight or oversize permits and if MODOT or the Department of Motor Carrier Services could deny these permits. Well, we asked. We wanted to know if these permits could be denied, especially if the loads would knowingly cause significant destruction to the roads or if the roads had already deteriorated to a point of disrepair and further overweight or oversize loads would make them dangerous for travel. The answer was a resounding "NO." The permits are mainly just for the determination of routes and money to the state. The money from these permits is put into a general road and bridge fund at the state level and is not necessarily allocated to the districts that were impacted by the loads.
What does that mean for Northeast Missouri then? The Chief Engineer at MODOT is adamant that the roads will be fixed. We question what "fixed" means and how long these roads will hold up. Anyone that travels the roads within the footprint of the project, know that the damage inflicted is more than surface damage.
This is the reported plan:
Overview of maintenance work on roads damaged from wind farm construction – as of 3/11/2021
MoDOT Maintenance is planning to start pavement work on May 3rd. If the weather is warming in April, we may be able to start earlier. As usual, our work is weather dependent.
We plan to hot mix patch the rutted areas on the following routes:
Rt. U Schuyler from 63 to 136
RT. D Schuyler from 136 to RT. A
RT. V Schuyler from RT. D to RT. A
RT. O Schuyler from RT. 63 to the end
RT. E Schuyler From RT. 63 to RT. A
RT. J Schuyler From RT. 63 to the end
RT. A Adair From RT. 63 to RT. J
RT. J Adair from RT A to MO 11
RT. T Adair from US 63 to the end
We plan to hot mix patch the following routes:
RT. A Schuyler from US 136 to RT J in Adair County
Before the next step, the windfarm contract needs to have their cleanup completed so they are not in way of us doing this work. Once the windfarm has completed their cleanup, we will then complete a cold mix overlay on the following:
Route Y Schuyler from US 63 to 1 miles west
Route U Schuyler from US 63 to US 136
Route D Schuyler from US 136 to Route A
Route V Schuyler from Route D to Route A
Route O Schuyler from US 63 to State Maintenance Ends
Route E Schuyler from US 63 to Route A
Route J Schuyler from US 63 to State Maintenance Ends
Route A Adair from US 63 to Route J
Route J Adair from Route A to MO 11
Route T Adair from US 63 to State Maintenance Ends
Currently, the windfarm contractor needs to work on erosion control on most of the routes and has to remove the entrances on Route J, Schuyler, Route A, Schuyler, Route A, Adair, Route J, Adair, and Route T, Adair.
We are planning to do a Maintenance Contract overlay on Route A in Schuyler County from US 136 to Route J in Adair County in 2024.
In Schuyler County, the local crew has begun applying large cold mix patches to Route U. This already goes against the above plan that was given to us by MODOT management. In Adair County, hot mix has begun to be applied to Route T. (Remember, the local crews are just doing as they are told.)
We think it remains to be seen how well our roads will be restored, or if they are at all.
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If you live or drive within the footprint of the project, you know how terrible the roads are. In the process of attempting to figure out how to get our roads fixed, we were connected with a group from Scotland County that is also attempting to get their roads fixed. Even before construction of the High Prairie project began, the roads in Northeast Missouri were less than stellar. We believe this graphic helps to explain why road maintenance and repair has been an ongoing issue:
To help put this into perspective about how this lack of funding is affecting Northeast Missouri, we have more graphs. To help you better understand the following graphics, it is important to know that MODOT designates roads as major, minor or low volume and they make these designations mainly off of traffic volumes. Anything less than 400 average daily traffic (ADT) is generally classified as low volume. We asked if the dramatic increase in traffic in Northeast Missouri over the past two years, meant that more funding would be funneled to Northeast Missouri, as part of funding is based on volumes. We were met with silence.
As our low volume roads (typically lettered roads) have been hardest hit over the past two years, we will focus on those roads.
Below are some graphics (kindly provided by the Northeast Missouri Regional Planning Commission), all using 2019 data (no data was collected in 2020 due to the pandemic), to get that point across:
Notice that in 2019, there was not a single low volume road in Schuyler County that had an International Roughness Index (IRI) value of less than 170, meaning that NONE of them had pavement that was considered "good." What do you think these numbers are now, especially with no 2020 data?
We also would like to make special mention of a "minor" route in Schuyler County, Route N. This road has a higher traffic volume but has been neglected for years by MODOT. Minor routes should have an IRI of less than 140.
Route N clearly needs attention.
We have additional data for the other counties in the Northeast District, if you are interested in this data, reach out to us and we can share it with you.
So, where do we go from here? How do we get the roads in Northeast Missouri repaired to a drivable, manageable and safe state?
Well, leaders in Jefferson City recommend that you vote YES for a gas tax increase. There is currently a bill that has passed the Senate and is working its way through the House for this very cause. We will not take a stance on that here. Make of that what you will.
Another option is to ask the Governor to release funds to the Northeast District to get our roads repaired and improved. This is what a group of citizens in Scotland County have resolved to do and are now collecting signatures for a petition.
Petition language is as such:
Petition for Governor Parson from the Residents
of Scotland County Missouri Requesting
Improvement of State Lettered Highways
We, the undersigned of Scotland County, Missouri, wish to express our utmost concern regarding the deteriorating condition of our lettered roads.
According to MODOT, each road is measured annually using the International Roughness Index (IRI), as the measuring tool. Last completed in 2019 (none in 2020 due to COVID-19), low volume roads with an index of higher than 170 are rated “not good”. See attached graph for individual ratings.
We ask that MODOT bring all of our lettered roads to an IRI of 170 or less by fiscal year 2022.
Petition for Governor Parson from the Residents
of Schuyler County, Missouri Requesting
Improvement of State Lettered Highways
We, the undersigned of Schuyler County, Missouri, wish to express our utmost concern regarding the deteriorating condition of our lettered roads.
According to the Missouri Department of Transportation (MODOT), each road is measured annually using the International Roughness Index (IRI), as the measuring tool. Last completed in 2019 (none in 2020 due to COVID-19), low volume roads with an IRI of higher than 170 are rated "not good." See attached graph for individual ratings.
We ask that MODOT bring all our lettered (low volume) roads to an IRI of 170 or less and all minor roads to an IRI of 140 or less by fiscal year 2022.
We are unaware of residents that reside within other counties within the Northeast District that are willing to tackle the task of obtaining petition signatures. If you are one of these residents, we can provide you with a petition document. Edit: There are also petitions circulating in Clark County and Adair County.
If you are interested in signing the petition, you may do so by contacting us at nemowindinfo@gmail.com or watch for petitions circulating in the community.
You can fill out your information here online: https://forms.gle/WHcmtxNx5fTcVNN6A
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