Trash Man

Have you seen this superhero alongside the road picking up trash? It’s Trash Man – better known as Cosmo from the Cosmo & JC show on Y107. He’s the best kind of super hero – the kind that keeps our roadsides cleaner and more attractive.

Trash Man picked up trash this morning along Highway 63 north of the AC/Grindstone exit. His “trashy” superhero costume consisted of a cape, suit and mask all made from trash bags.

I provided him with trash bags, a safety vest, gloves and a grabber and we went to work. In less than a half hour, we had already filled up a yellow trash bag. Some of the things we found: floss, lip gloss, a rubber glove and wallpaper along with tons of fast food trash, cigarette butts and paper.

Trash Man isn’t the only superhero out there picking up trash. MoDOT’s Adopt-a-Highway program currently has 4,140 adopter groups that clean up 5,872 miles of highway. Adopters perform about $1 million a year in litter cleanup and beautification efforts. The stretch of highway we picked up today was adopted by Evan Scholars at the University of Missouri.

To find out more about Adopt-a-Highway, call our toll free number at 888-ASK MODOT (275-6636) and ask for the Adopt-A-Highway coordinator or email us at aah@modot.mo.gov. You can also find out more information at www.nomoretrash.org.

Thanks to Y107’s Trash Man for doing his part to keep 63 litter-free. Check out the video of Trash Man below or see the photos at http://y107.com/cosmo-as-trash-man/#more-2770.

MoDOT Celebrates a Safe & Sound Centennial!

One hundred and counting! That’s the number of bridges the Missouri Department of Transportation has now fixed as a part of its commitment under the Safe & Sound Bridge Improvement Program – an initiative to fix 802 of the state’s worst bridges in five years.


This morning Gov. Jay Nixon joined MoDOT Director Pete Rahn, members of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission and local officials to celebrate the completion of a redeck project on the Route E bridge in Platte County over the Platte River. It was the 100th bridge completed since April when it reopened on October 24.


MoDOT and its contractor partners are working so fast on these projects that already seven more have been completed! There are another 13 under construction that will be completed before the end of the year. Since the first bridge was completed on April 23, 107 bridges have been improved in 194 days.


But if you think opening a bridge about every two days is impressive, wait until next year! In 2010, close to 250 bridges will be constructed. And almost 200 of those will be completely new bridges, built under the Design-Build portion of the Safe & Sound program by KTU Constructors.


Construction schedules are being completed, and MoDOT will be conducting community briefings through the winter months to provide construction and detour information while these bridges are closed.


The contract with KTU Constructors requires that the average closure be no more than 45 days. That's twice as fast as the normal 90 days it takes to build a new bridge.

Thank you, Missouri!

Missourians created jobs and saved lives when they approved Amendment 3 in November 2004. The constitutional change ended the diversion of some highway user fees to certain state agencies and redirected them to road and bridge projects.

We reached a milestone on Oct. 28 when we sold the last of the Amendment 3 bonds. This helped us leverage the additional funding and deliver 2,200 miles of smoother highways, 55 projects that were years down the road and 97 brand new projects that before were only a gleam in our eye. As a result, 83 percent of our major roads are in good condition today and traffic fatalities have decreased 24 percent since 2005.

Missouri voters deserve a big pat on the back and our thanks for investing in their highway system.

A Blast in Miami

If you talk about having a blast in Miami, chances are your audience is assuming you spent some time cruising South Beach.

Not the case for those who watched the first phase of demolition on the Miami River bridge in Missouri yesterday. Those Chariton county residents watched the excitement closer to home.

Dorothy Clements, a Miami resident, was there to watch the bridge dedication in 1939 and also there yesterday to watch the demolition. View the video below to hear her thoughts.

When the new structure is complete next fall, only the piers will remain from the original structure.

Making a Difference

Jim Feeney turned extra steps into extra miles last week, walking to raise awareness about work zone safety for his fellow MoDOT co-workers.

Feeney, a maintenance crew leader in the St. Louis area, walked 87.2 miles along the Katy Trail from Weldon Spring to Jefferson City to pay tribute to fellow workers who have been killed in the line of duty and to encourage support for a memorial honoring fallen MoDOT employees.

Feeney's wife, Theo, walked with him and was not surprised at all when her husband proposed the idea.

"That's Jim," said Theo. "This is normal because he likes to make a difference."

Halloween Hints

Halloween is a bittersweet time for me. My kids are too old to trick-or-treat, and I’m too old to celebrate, but I still have great memories of this hallowed tradition. I can recall my one-year-old daughter in her first costume - a pumpkin outfit - and watching the neighbor kids grow bigger and taller each year they rang our doorbell. I can think of my son announcing he was too big to hold hands and could go to the door by himself to get his treats. Mostly, I remember breathing a sigh of relief when the evening was over and everyone was home safe and sound.

That’s because while Halloween is a fun fall tradition, it’s also one of the deadliest nights of the year – largely due to impaired driving. This year, Halloween falls on a Saturday, making it an even bigger occasion to party. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 58 percent of all highway fatalities last Halloween involved an impaired driver. In Missouri, eight people were killed and 51 seriously injured in traffic crashes during last year’s Halloween weekend. Of the eight people killed, 50 percent involved an impaired driver and 57 percent were unbuckled.

So, while I know I’m going to sound like a preachy old mom, please keep these tips in mind if you’re thinking about celebrating this Halloween:
· Plan a safe way home before the festivities begin.
· Before drinking, designate a sober driver and give that person your keys.
· If you’re impaired, take a taxi, call a sober friend or family member, or use public transportation.
· If you suspect a drunk driver on the road, contact your local law enforcement.
· Always buckle up. It’s your best defense in a crash.

MoDOT Receives Two Governor’s Quality and Productivity Awards

Gov. Jay Nixon’s office gave MoDOT a big pat on the back last week. The department was honored with two Governor’s Awards for Quality and Productivity in the areas of customer service and technology. These annual awards go to state departments that demonstrate achievement in customer service, efficiency, innovation, process improvement or technology in government.

The customer service award recognized the popular online Traveler Information Map, which shows road conditions, work zones, incidents and flooding information. More than 1.5 million people have turned to map for travel information since it was launched.

The second award honored MoDOT’s revolutionary online method for increasing public participation on projects. With help from HNT!B, a transportation contractor, MoDOT launched the first virtual public meeting. These online meetings allow people to comment on plans and projects from the comfort of their own home and at the time that suits them best. As result, public comments on projects increased tenfold.

MoDOT is honored to receive these awards. Now we just have to figure out how to top them for next year!

Observations from the Field

I’ve been watching you – and what I see is good!


Hubby and I were on the road again – 465 rainy Missouri miles on Tuesday alone. That gave me a lot of time to watch how car, truck and commercial truck drivers behave.

I saw that most Missourians are safe travelers. Almost 8 out of 10 buckle up – that’s the best defense we’ve got against serious injury or death if a crash were to happen. And most people share the road quite nicely.

Because vehicles on our highways range from bicycles to specially permitted high and wide load commercial trucks, safe travel is a matter of mutual respect. It appears that in at least one safety measure, Missourians are doing a great job: between 2006 and 2008, the number of commercial motor vehicle crashes that resulted in fatalities fell 19 percent.

I do my best to concentrate on driving so everyone can Arrive Alive, but I know I slip up from time to time. The last thing I want to do is distract another driver from the driving task, so I like the reminders the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety put out this week for Operation Safe Driver Week, Oct. 18-24, 2009. During the week, law enforcement agencies turn a keen eye toward the driving behavior of passenger cars and commercial trucks.

For passenger vehicle drivers, several tips can improve your safety when driving near commercial trucks or buses:
· Focus on driving. Texting, phone calls, eating and other distractions take your attention away from safe operation of your vehicle.
· After passing a truck, wait until you can see both of its headlights in your rearview mirror before pulling into the same lane.
· Keep a safety cushion around trucks. Can you see the truck’s side mirrors? If not, the driver cannot see you. Leave at least a 20-car-length gap when driving behind a truck.
· Never linger alongside a truck and risk “disappearing” from their vision due to blind spots.
· Obey speed limits and traffic signs.

It is also important for truck drivers to remember to:
· Pre-inspect the condition of your vehicle before travel and make sure your load is secure.
· Maximize the vision around your truck with properly adjusted mirrors; be sure mirrors are properly set and clean.
· Focus on driving, not distractions.Obey speed limits and traffic signs. Excessive speed reduces your ability to avoid a crash, extends your vehicle’s stopping distance, and increases the severity of a crash when it occurs.



As impressed as I am with Missourians' driving, I'm tired! I think we'll stick close to home this weekend...but there are some really great fall festivals and Oktoberfests and...

Glasgow Bridge Complete!

Today, Glasgow residents and those in surrounding communities will celebrate having their bridge again!
Only a year ago, the Glasgow Bridge in north central Missouri was one of the worst major river bridges in the state.

An innovative partial replacement solution has since improved the bridge, and a ceremony kicks off this afternoon where the residents celebrate!

The existing deck and steelwork was removed from the supporting piers, then replaced with a plate girder bridge to produce a new driving surface, extending the life of this important bridge for up to 50 years. Check out more photos and details!

For Sale!

One thing I learned this summer - the selling of a home and purchase of another home is a fascinating (and exhausting!) process.

I really still don't know how all of the details came together or the pieces fell in place, but the end result is a home that better fits the needs of my family. A happy ending.



MoDOT is selling off property it no longer needs, and an upcoming blitz of activity is planned to sell 23 highly marketable parcels of land and put the money straight into needed road and bridge projects.

The blitz runs the week of Nov. 16-20. Thinking of getting in the market for development or wanting a buffer around land you already own? Check out our Realty to Roads page to see what might fit your needs.

You just might find your own happy ending in the real estate world. And with the money going to needed projects around Missouri, everyone in the state can do the same.

A Great Return!

Missouri's ports are a great return on investment.

MoDOT's Waterway Section is administering $16 million in grant funding for 20 different projects at public ports throughout Missouri. Everything from a rail spur, truck scale, access roads, dock repairs, mooring dolphins, storage, and utility extension is included.

These investments are generating economic activity in the private sector. The best example is at the New Madrid County Port Authority, where MoDOT provided $3 million in state and federal grants to improve truck access, bring in a rail spur, and increase storage capacity. These investments, along with working with port staff, helped land two new business that are right now investing more than $50 million in private investment in this port.

Even in this challenging economic climate, Missouri ports have increased tonnage handled, jobs created, and private investment. Plus, we all get the environmental benefits offered by waterway transportation, where one barge holds as much as 15 rail cars and 60 trucks.

MoDOT Through the Looking Glass

MoDOT has a bunch of good-lookin’ employees. Who wouldn’t want to catch a peek of ‘em in the truck mirrors?

That’s what I thought after learning that MoDOT’s Northeast District added bright orange stickers to the back of bright yellow dump trucks. The message on the stickers is familiar to those who drive around 18-wheel trucks: If you can’t see my mirrors, I can’t see you.

It turns out that the district’s safety and health committee recommended the message. Concern about incidents when dump truck drivers backed into vehicles behind them – vehicles the dump truck driver could not see – prompted the team’s action. Since commercial trucks have the same blind spot, the team thought, we could try using one of their safety tactics.

It will be a few months – April 2010, to be exact – before the pilot program wraps up, but the district already notes a decrease in the number of backing incidents. It’s possible the stickers will spread statewide.

Big thanks to the big trucks for inspiring an effective, inexpensive safety tool.

And keep those glances in the mirror quick. MoDOT folks will try to temper our beauty so we’re not too distracting!

No Substitute

Before heading to the next big game, make sure you buckle up. No Substitute!

Why Isn't It Clicking with Missourians?

I buckle up every single time I get in a vehicle, and everyone riding with me does as well. But unfortunately according to our latest statewide survey results - nearly one in four Missouri motorists still don’t buckle up. With 77% seat belt use, Missouri is seven percent less than the national average of 84 percent. The bottom line of these statistics means that people who otherwise would probably be arriving home safely are dying on our roads.

In 2008, 489 people out of the 960 killed in Missouri traffic crashes weren’t wearing a seat belt. If you do the math, that’s more than half. It’s common sense to wear one – and yet some people still don’t.

So why aren't we measuring up to other states? We don't have a primary seat belt law is one reason. Research from other states shows that passing a primary seat belt law raises the usage rate and reduces fatalities and injuries. By law, we all have to wear our seat belt anyway, but making it a primary law allows our law enforcement to actually enforce it. It’s a simple change that costs us nothing but could gain us everything.

Some groups in our state are at even more risk from lower seat belt usage – teens only buckle up 62% of the time and motorists in the 10-county area near Joplin and Springfield only buckle up 66% of the time. We’re doing what we can to educate these folks with the Get Your Buckle On campaign that targets teens and tries to get more of them to buckle up, while a new Click It or Ticket campaign in the southwest area has local law enforcement officers cracking down on motorists who aren’t wearing seat belts.

Until we get a primary seat belt law, we’ll have to do our best to educate everybody about the importance of buckling up. Please help us. Visit saveMOlives and send your friends a postcard (www.savemolives.com/play/postcard.htm) reminding them to buckle up. For more information, visit http://www.savemolives.com/. Buckle Up and Arrive Alive!

Gnome says, "Get Your Buckle On."

A gnome costume inspired 19-year-old Cole Hieronymus's winning Get Your Buckle On video. The video contest, sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, encouraged people to submit seat belt videos to www.getyourbuckleon.com to encourage teens to buckle up.

"We wanted to jolt our peers' mind to wake up out of zombie routine every day and actually put their seat belt on," said Hieronymus of St. Louis.

The winning video will be promoted during the October teen seat belt campaign running Oct. 5-25. The second round of the teen seat belt video competition will begin Oct. 1. The video contest will be featured in the October advertising campaign sponsored by the Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety.

Watch the video below.

MoDOT’s E update service offers job announcements, flood updates, work zone info and more

Have you subscribed to MoDOT’s free “E-update” service yet? If not, you’re missing out on a lot of good information from your department of transportation.

E-update’s lets you get info on work zones, road closures, flooding, public meetings, statewide news, district news, even job announcements.

You can sign up for the e-mail service at www.modot.org/eupdate. The newest E-update feature is our job announcement service. At the bottom of the subscription page is a section called “Career Opportunities” organized by district. It allows you to pick the geographic areas where you’re interested in finding employment. Once you’re signed up, you will receive an e-mail every time a job opens up in the districts you selected.

While you’re in there, sign up to get other information for your area. If you find out E updates aren’t for you, just change your subscription or unsubscribe entirely.

You can also visit our Twitter pages at http://www.modot.org/Twitter and get the latest tweets on job announcements and other MoDOT news.

Go TIGER!

No, we're not using this post to cheer for the Missouri Tigers, although I'll have to admit that their 3-0 start has been impressive. Hope the Nevada game is not an ambush in the desert!

This entry is about MoDOT's submission last week of an application for a TIGER Discretionary Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation. In this case, TIGER stands for "Transportation Investments Generating Economic Recovery" and it is a special program that is part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

The program was announced in the spring, giving states and local entities the opportunity to compete for $1.5 billion in stimulus funds to enable transportation projects that otherwise were not possible. Projects were to range from $20 million to $300 million in cost and able to be built by February of 2012. No state could receive more than $300 million total.

MoDOT's I-70 team worked hard all summer to develop its application to build up to 30 miles of truck-only lanes on Interstate 70 in Saline and Cooper Counties. The application was for $200 million. MoDOT would add $40 million to that for a $240 million project. If selected, this project would revolutionize interstate corridors that have heavy freight movements, separating cars from long-haul semis. It would demonstrate just how the concept would improve safety, reduce congestion and allow for efficiencies in freight flows.

The MoDOT application and all of its supporting information can be found at www.modot.mo.gov/arra/tiger/

Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood has indicated that projects will be selected by January 15, 2010. In the meantime, we'll be keeping our fingers crossed that this innovative project is chosen, and hoping that Coach Gary Pinkel's Tigers keep up their winning ways.

Lee's Summit Man Wins GPS System

One Missouri man took the time to learn more about work zone safety in Missouri and was rewarded with a brand new Garmin nuvi 750 GPS system.

Lee's Summit resident, Buck Sommerkamp, entered to win the GPS while visiting the MoDOT Web site and learning how to Arrive Alive while traveling in Missouri work zones. Some of the tips included slow down, drive sober, follow the signs and always buckle up.

“I’ve been buckling up since driver’s ed in high school,” Sommerkamp said. “We couldn’t turn the key until our seat belts were buckled, and that’s something I’ve taught both my boys.”

The contest was part of the annual work zone safety campaign sponsored by MoDOT that ran April through September. The campaign utilized online advertising to drive Missourians to http://www.modot.org/ where they could find a current listing of work zones and work zone safety tips. They could also enter to win baseball tickets and the free GPS.

More than 3,000 entries were received during the campaign. From April to July, two names were randomly selected each week for free Cardinals or Royals tickets. A grand-prize winner was randomly drawn for the GPS system. The baseball tickets were donated by TrueMedia in Columbia; the GPS system was donated by Garmin International.

In 2008, 12 people were killed in work zones, an increase from 2007 when five people were killed. Three MoDOT employees lost their lives on the job during 2008. Speed, inattention and tailgating are cited as the cause of most crashes in areas where roadwork is under way.


The GPS system will help Sommerkamp travel safely through work zones in the future.

Join the Battle of the Belt Challenge

Calling all Missouri high school students to compete in the 2009 Battle of the Belt Challenge for an opportunity to win cash and prizes for your school.

The Battle of the Belt is a competition between Missouri high schools to increase seat belt use among students. The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety, Missouri Emergency Nurses Association and American Family Insurance sponsor the program.

During the competition, teens participate in an observational safety belt survey conducted before and after an education blitz to determine the change in seat belt use among teens. Prizes are awarded to schools for having the highest seat belt use statewide and locally. Prizes are also awarded for those schools showing the most improved seat belt use.

It’s not too late to sign up. It’s easy to do and teaches a life-saving message. A Participation Agreement Form must be completed by Oct. 2, 2009. Visit www.savemoyouth.com for more information.

Check out this student-produced video from the competition last year.

Big Bags

With holidays not so far away, the mention of big bags makes me think of the shopping that I'll have to get done pretty soon.

But these bags are far more useful. MoDOT has purchased bags -- really, really BIG bags -- in order to hold off floodwaters in the state. They can help alot more people than just those on my gift list.

Big Bags are just that -- large sand bags that unfold like an accordion to create a 15-foot long by 3-foot high by 3-foot wide storage compartment for sand. One system of Big Bags takes the place of 500 regular sand bags.

“They’ll be used the next time floodwaters threaten to rise over our major roads,” said Jim Carney, state maintenance engineer. “A new product like this can help us save time and protect lives during a crisis.”

The Big Bags work much like Legos toys; a chain of dumpster-sized bags can be stacked, attached, filled with sand and built upon to create massive floodwalls quickly and easily. The bags are made of tightly woven polypropylene with wooden frames that are screwed together. Each system weighs only 50 pounds when empty, but when deployed they are filled with 2,800-3,500 pounds of sand, depending on the moisture content.

It takes just a few minutes to fill the bags with the help of a spreader box on dump trucks. Creating a traditional sand bag wall could take several hours.

Flood waters, watch out.