Highway DD improvement gets green light from Missouri Department of Transportation
Improvements to Highway DD will be finished before the end of 2010, state officials said today.
Kevin Keith, chief engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation, sent a letter to County Executive Steve Ehlmann saying the state would accelerate improvements to the road from Highway 40 to Frontier Middle School.
September 23, 2009–A car drives south along Highway DD in St. Charles County. | David Carson Post-Dispatch
The letter was written in response to Ehlmann’s letter to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. That letter included a copy of a Post-Dispatch article by Susan Weich and Joel Currier that highlighted crashes and fatalities on the road during the past five years.
Jim Gremaud, area engineer for MoDOT, could not be reached Friday afternoon, but county spokesman John Sonderegger quoted him in a press release.
Gremaud said the existing road will be widened by four feet on each side, and a three-foot shoulder will be added for more safety. The project is expected to cost about $900,000 and will come from MoDOT’s designated safety fund, he said.
“This is great news for anyone who lives in that part of the county or anyone who travels that road,” Ehlmann said in a press release.
The County Council has asked state officials to lower the speed limit along the stretch of the road. Keith said in his letter that he was willing to consider the request, but his initial reaction after driving the road was that the 50 mph speed limit was appropriate.
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That’s good, and good work Susan and Joel, but let’s not have Gremaud and Steve Tempertantrum making a public appearance on the deck of an aircraft carrier with a big sign saying “mission accomplished.” The treacherous lettered state highways are a roller coaster weaving through St. Charles County. Fixing the portion of roadway from Hwy 40 out to the school is a start, and will make a difference, but look at all of the crosses along Hwy DD, Hwy D, Hwy N, Hwy Z, Hwy F, Hwy T, Hwy P, and even Hwy 94. It’s an abomination that some of us look to cheap out on roadway safety and allow people to die on these roads only to blame it on their own ineptitude. There’s more work to be done. The roads need to be regularly patrolled, as well, ESPECIALLY during the times the roadhouses are open and have just closed (not only during highly publicized afternoon events). Get to it!
Great…but during reconstruction, workers will have to worry about being plowed into by speeding kids texting and driving. Cant pave over stupid.