Bill would place limit on highway shutdowns
Roads could close for only 60 consecutive days during construction.
By Elisa Crouch
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
Wednesday, 11/28/2007
Reprinted with permission of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, copyright 2007.
A bill to limit the shutdown of any major highway or interstate in Missouri, including Highway 40, is about to be filed in the Missouri Legislature.
Rep. Scott Muschany, R-Frontenac, said he would file a bill next week to keep the Missouri Department of Transportation from closing a busy highway or interstate for construction for more than 60 consecutive days. He hopes support builds for his legislation after Jan. 2, when five miles of Highway 40 (Interstate 64) closes for a year.
At present, there's little outrage about the shutdown, Muschany acknowledged Tuesday.
"My sense is, the general population doesn't understand how catastrophic it's going to be," he said.
Gateway Constructors will be closing two five-mile sections of Highway 40, one at a time, over the next two years, for a $535 million rebuild.
The first section is between Ballas Road and Interstate 170. In 2009, all lanes will close between I-170 and Kingshighway.
Even if Muschany's bill were passed in early 2008 and took effect immediately, bridges carrying Highway 40 will be gone, making the western part of the highway undrivable, said Dan Galvin, spokesman for Gateway Constructors.
"Once we get started, we're going to do so much demolition it would be a moot point," he added.
The weekend of Jan. 4, crews will begin tearing down the bridge over Lindbergh Boulevard. Later in the month, on weekends, they'll remove bridges over Brentwood Boulevard and Clayton-Warson Road. Those roads will be closed during demolition but will be fully open once rubble is gone and during reconstruction.
For the last year, Muschany has unsuccessfully tried to stop the Highway 40 closures, predicting that they could have devastating consequences on the area economy and quality of life.
He's tried getting the legislature to formally ask the department to reconsider the shutdown. He's held a town meeting for opponents. He protested the closure at last spring's construction groundbreaking, wearing a "Stop MoDOT From Closing 40." He's explored the feasibility of filing a lawsuit.
Muschany says that although Highway 40 should be rebuilt, the shutdown is unnecessary.
"They've never, in the history of MoDOT, closed a highway while they rebuilt it," Muschany said. "Who'd have thought we'd need legislation to keep our own government agency from destroying our region?"
And what if the shutdown doesn't bring devastation?
"Then this legislation clearly won't move," Muschany said. "There will be no pressure to move it."
State Rep. Neal St. Onge, R-Ellisville, head of the House Transportation Committee, says he won't support Muschany's measure. Keeping lanes open during construction would prolong construction by several years and add 20 percent to 30 percent to the overall price, he said.
"I find it ironic when people say MoDOT needs to make the most of their money ... but then they propose something like this," St. Onge added.
As for the impact of next year's shutdown, "I don't think its going to be Armageddon," St. Onge said.
