State OKs Five-Year Plan That Highlights Work on I-55
Date Posted: July 19, 2022
Posted In: Projects,
From Leader Publications: Upgrades to I-55 are included in the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program approved July 6 by the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission.
The Missouri Department of Transportation proposed the five-year STIP to improve state-maintained roads, which includes 1,803 highway and bridge projects, with 23 of those in Jefferson County.
“It’s a pretty good list,” said Stephen O’Connor, the MoDOT area engineer for Jefferson and Franklin counties.
He said the estimated cost for the Jefferson County projects is $333,573,000, although such figures are unreliable.
“It’s a nationwide trend that construction projects are costing more,” he said. “Especially for projects that are three, four, five years down the road, we’re only using our best guesses. When we get closer to the actual construction, we’ll have to adjust those numbers.”
The highlight of the plan for Jefferson County remains a $236 million project to add a third lane on I-55 from 1 1/2 miles north of Hwy. Z near Pevely to 1 mile south of Hwy. 67 south of the Twin Cities.
On June 2, the Highways and Transportation Commission approved the concept for an additional lane on that stretch of I-55 as a design-build project, meaning that instead of the traditional method of contracting with an engineering firm and then soliciting bids from construction companies, engineering firms and construction companies would team up and present different ideas for a project. Then, the Highways and Transportation Commission chooses the best one.
According to MoDOT’s website, the design-build model allows for speed and flexibility, especially in projects that may have multiple solutions.
O’Connor said the I-55 project is still in its infancy.
“We’re still doing conceptual studies, laying out the footprint for the project that we can present. There are a couple of options at different intersections,” he said.