Residents pack meeting about dangers of Highway DD
More than 300 people crammed into New Melle’s Community Club last night to talk about ways to improve Highway DD, a road that state officials say is among the most dangerous of its kind in the state.
State Sen. Scott Rupp and Jim Gremaud, area engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation in St. Charles County, were among a group of state and county officials there. They called the meeting constructive and said everyone left in agreement.
“We need to get shoulders on the road — it’s just a matter of how quickly we can get it done and how we can get it done,” Gremaud said.
In the past five years, five people have been killed and 89 more injured in 146 crashes on the roadway. The accident rate is twice the state average for two-lane highways without shoulders, officials said.
After the death last month of a 16-year-old Elise Sunderhuse, area residents asked for the meeting to express their concerns over the conditions of the highway, which curves around the Busch Wildlife Area toward St. Charles County’s popular wine country in Augusta and Defiance.
In a front-page article in the Post-Dispatch earlier this month, residents expressed fears not only for themselves but for their teenage children just beginning to drive. They cited the lack of highway shoulders and steep roadside embankments.
MoDOT is planning to put shoulders along a one-mile stretch of DD from Highway 40 south to Frontier Middle School beginning next year, but residents called for shoulders along the entire nine-mile stretch. Other asked for similar improvements on Highways D, 94 and F.
Rupp suggested residents consider forming a transportation development district, which would establish a special tax that would only be able to be used for road improvements in the area.
“This way when people come to the wineries, and they are using the roads, they are helping you pay for your roads,” he said.
Currently, all road improvements are funded by the gas tax, but more efficient cars paired with people driving less because of high gas prices, has meant less revenue for roads, he said.
With the resources diminishing and the needs rising, tax districts have become the solution used by cities and counties across the state, Gremaud said.
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This article does not have a lot of information about the meeting, other than it was constructive and everyone left in agreement. What did the residents have to say?
Country roads require country driving. Slow down around curves and never be in a hurry. This same thing happened on HWY P in O’Fallon/St. Paul. North County’s moved out there and began racking up accidents bc they don’t know how to drive on a curvy two lane road. Then they demanded shoulders and millions of wasted tax dollars. I’m sorry for the 16 yr. old that died but inexperienced 16yr olds should not drive those roads.
If you moved out to a cookie cutter subdivsion in the rural parts dont complain about your surroundings. Your choice.
The roads aren’t dangerous, it’s the drivers that are dangerous. Ever hear of driving too fast for conditions? Maybe the schools need to teach mandatory drivers education. Also, if the State Legislature can pass a law outlawing texting while driving for those under 21, why not outlaw them driving after 9 PM. Not surprising to see the two elected officals pretending to be concerned.
I personally think driving should be left to those 18 and older. Too many young teenagers are getting killed.
Even though I now live in the greater St. Louis area, I grew up out in the sticks of south-central Missouri and remember well how some of those rural 2-lane lettered roads can be. When you’re on one of ‘em, OBEY THE POSTED SPEED LIMIT! And if there isn’t a posted speed limit, then someone please correct me if I’m wrong, but it’s my understanding that the de-facto speed limit on those roads is 55 MPH, and that’s PLENTY for those kinds of roads, and that’s under optimum conditions. Either take your time on those roads (within reason, of course) or leave a few minutes earlier to get to your destination if you have to be there by a specific time.
I agree with the last 2 posters. Slow down, pay attention to your surroundings, drive according to the road conditions, and for the love of Christ HANG UP THE PHONE. I’d love to see how many of these accidents happened and the driver was on the phone.
Speeding + inexperience + cell phones = accidents and possibly death. I’m sorry for the deaths, but people have to take responsibility for themselves at all times, especially on the road.
Sure, and people killed in airplanes crashes should not have been on the plane to begin with. Take responsibility for buying that ticket. All of you “blame the driver” folks are ignoring a critical piece of information.
“The accident rate is twice the state average for two-lane highways without shoulders, officials said.”
That statistic tells us that there is a unique and inherently higher risk associated with this particular stretch of highway. We assume that bad drivers use all of the roads, people speed on all of the roads and drivers text and telephone on all of the roads. So the question remains as to why this roads has twice the accident rate of other like roads. “IT’S THE ROAD!” This is not complicated analysis folks, there really is only one variable.
I have live out there since the 1970s and highways DD, D, and Z, among others, are very dangerous and always have been. The increase in the death rate is in direct correlation with the population (these two-lane state highways have a much larger, and younger, population using them than most other two lane state highways). Especially in bad weather, the most deadly being the ice storms we’ve had in recent winters, these roads are frightfully deadly. Shoulders and improvements are very necessary and some kind of taxation mentioned in the article will be necessary and very prudent to implement, but in the mean time, shouldn’t we simply lower the speed limit and add a few more stop signs along these highways (DD being the most in need of these)? This would be cheap to do and it would help save lives. Mason Road in west St. Louis County is very windy and shoulderless, I beleive, (there is even a mirror at one turn since it’s so sharp) but the speed limit is 35mph. Also, it would be beneficial to property values if we could maintain the “lovely country drive” picturesque curviness of the road with the mature trees arching over the lanes while keeping it safe to use; thus a lower speed limit and a few stop signs would certainly help to accomplish these goals.
Where is the Mayor of O’Fallon? The O’Fallon Police can set up DUI checkpoints on Highway DD, why can’t O’Fallon’s Mayor get involved and help with this problem.
Personal Accountability, dont paint a picture with one brush. You cant say that 146 accidents happened for the same reason that being people arent paying attention. A dangerous road is a dangerous road period, it doesnt matter where youre from. Dont you think maybe its people familiar with the roads that drive faster because they are familiar with the area. Not North County moving out there and they may not know the roads as well so they are driving slower and then someone from the area tries to pass and causes an accident. Just dont assume you know all the ills of the world and have the cures.