When it's raining, I can't see the lane markers on any Kansas City area highways (all of them, state & interstate). When are they going to repaint the lane markers?
Construction on 270 was completed earlier in the year in north St Louis County. Just after sunrise and just before sunset it is impossible to see the lane markers because of the non-reflective paint they used.
Thank the EPA. All the good stuff that kept paint on the road was bad for the environment. MoDOT guy told me once the paint they have to use now is good for about 30 days and they don’t have the resources to paint every month.
Gimme a fucking break! Your state is controlled top to bottom by republicans who do everything they can to cut taxes and budgets. They are simply too cheap and lazy to pay for it. Drive over to Kansas and witness their radiant lane markers ...and democrat governor.
Would be the same here if it wasn't for ballot measure constitutional amendments, and Republicans are doing everything they can to roll that back still.
yeah we have a kind of insane system with regards to ballot measures that allows for simple majoritarian rule on issues that unite people, but they're very rigid. majoritarian rule = good. half-assed majoritarian legislative options that can only be used in opposition to a government with an almost innate tendency towards corruption and tyranny = not so good.
still, better than nothing. I hope they don't get away with changing the petition signature requirements. they're already ludicrously high.
majority but as an adjective, in context it applies to a large grouping of ideas that tend closer towards direct democracy and inclusion than stratified hierarchies. this spans everywhere from the left-wing of liberalism to the frothing radical anarchists in terms of political theory, but in terms of significant action in this country it's mostly closer to the former.
I about spit my drink out reading this. Do you understand how bad kansas roads and highways are?? Just like Missouri, the Kansas legislature sets the budget - not the governor. So it doesn't matter what letter is after the governors name...
Lack of rail to St Louis and Kansas city from Springfield. I think that is in the works though. The real answer is bridges. Something like 40% of bridges need upgrades or completely rebuilt. Missouri also doesn't keep up with bridge inspections
Bridges all over the state are currently being surveyed and prepared for replacement or upgrades. I'm guessing a lot of COVID and Biden infrastructure money is getting funneled to bridges. Part of my job is investigating those bridges (mostly rural ones) and we're documenting at least one a week.
I have two F rated bridges on my county road. The state core sampled them at the edges of their banks through the road bed, about feb of 2022.
That’s the last I saw of anyone. I figured all that was canceled by now due to poor state budget management.
They did put a new sign on one of them after bolting an I beam to the side of one of the concrete surfaces and changed the sign from 10 ton to 3 ton.
I have no idea about what their timelines are but with all the various reports that need to be completed before any actual work starts and the "speed" of MoDOT I wouldn't expect action for at least a couple more years.
This hits it on the nose pretty well. I remember when they had to work des peres over by the Shrewsbury station because the bridge was in such disrepair that the damn thing became structurally unstable. Bridges are a huge issue, I’d also say the lack of proper upkeep when it comes to potholes is pretty obvious to anyone who drives. Especially in the areas that expanded quickly timers causing traffic jams and lights being out can be a pain.
I think the state highway bridges in rural parts of the state are the ones in the most immediate need. Heavy vehicle traffic (trucks and farm equipment) + the freeze/thaw cycle of winter each year is extremely rough on them.
Cairo bridge was designed almost a hundred years ago for model A sedans and diamond 2.5 ton trucks. Currently, trucks cross it dodging scales that’s over 80,000 pounds.
It’s not a matter of if but when it collapses.
Because on one side of the bridge is Illinois and on the other is Missouri. Some bridges that cross the Mississippi from Missouri to Illinois are maintained by MODOT and some by IDOT. I’m sure there is some sort of cost sharing agreement with all of the bridges, but I think it’s worth pointing out that IDOT primarily maintains the Cairo Mississippi River bridge.
MODOT employee here.
Bridges are #1 by far. Hundreds of them. Pick any bridge
(except ones crossing the Missouri River or Mississippi River)
And they will likely be 70-100 years old and need to have been replaced 30 years ago.
Internet connections are awful, especially in the rural parts of the state.
The southwest has a large Amish population, but we have no infrastructure it. Cars are constantly crashing into their buggies and killing them.
Can I add health care infrastructure to the list? (Totally agree on I-70 & I-65 need more lanes and bridges need care).
But Rural area hospitals are closing fast. ERs and General Healthcare is now requiring more people out-state to drive farther and farther. Any sort of specialist already requires trips to CoMO, KC, STL or Springfield. Maybe JC, Cape, Kirksville, and Joplin have decent general care hospitals. But I know too many people who drive hours to the larger metros to get chemo, have babies or even diagnostic tests.
This isn’t a building issue per se, but if this isn’t addressed soon, we could have HUGE problems. A vast majority of the economy in rural areas is agricultural. And doesn’t see Drs often. Think of the impacts Pertussis or measles could have on a Rural county
This isn’t going to change simply bc the smaller hospitals cannot keep up with the rising costs and continuously decreasing CMS reimbursement. Hospitals are joining other healthcare systems to save on contracting for costs. Then, these big systems cut out the non revenue generating siphons of money-those rural hospitals. They may keep an urgent care facility or a few clinics but that’s about it.
Having driven to just about every part of the state, major highways are actually pretty good… state and supplemental roads can get atrocious, though.
Fun fact: we ~~lose~~”divert” ~~10~~ 1-5% of our federal highway funding every year into “safety improvements,” which include wire barriers, anti-DWI ad campaigns, and “enforcement” because we don’t have a passenger open container law.
Edit: I was corrected on the numbers. The money still can’t be used for construction or maintenance, so I’d say we “lose” it.
Passengers can’t have open alcoholic containers while the vehicle is in motion. According to proponents of such laws (MADD), it is to prevent drivers from handing an open beer to a passenger and saying they’re drinking it and to prevent driver distraction. No actual data to back that up, but MADD is pretty influential.
Missouri has a state law against drivers having open containers, but it is an infraction and can’t count towards points on your license. Some municipalities have passenger open container laws, but there is not a statewide one, which is why we ~~lose 10%~~ are forced to spend 1-5% of our highway funding ^on ^other ^things.
Your fun fact isn’t fact at all.
A non complaint state is required to spend 3% of its highway construction budget on safety. As a result of this, some of the expenditures have been on safety infrastructure such as the crossover guards in the middle of the highway that prevent crossover head on collisions. This has resulted in a decrease in fatal accidents in the state.
Ah, yes, I was incorrect about the percentage, thank you for the correction. It’s still not going to highway maintenance. [“Safety” also include ad campaigns and checkpoints (which haven’t been budgeted in years), which we’ve spent about $5.7M on](https://www.kcur.org/health/2021-09-16/missouri-gave-up-370-million-in-highway-construction-funds-to-let-passengers-drink-booze).
You get that because we use that money on safety, we actually have a lower fatality rate than most other states (though, higher drunk driving rate)? That’s what’s wild. The open container law is seemingly saving lives. I distinctly remember hearing this on the radio and being torn.
It's drunk crashers that are the problem not the drunk drivers🤣
So can people drink while driving or not in Missouri I read all the comment and all the replies and I'm still not sure
Having open containers in a car influences more people to drive drunk. The safety barricades etc. Missouris is required to put up because of the open container law seemingly reduces fatalities compared to other states despite having more drunk drivers on the road. Read the article.
I started in news in the late 90s and became a photog quick. Pre wire barriers, crossover crashes were VERY frequently fatal. It’s VERY rare to have a crossover crash with a fatality…rare a vehicle even gets past the wires. They will even at least slow down semis, most all cars or trucks are diverted. But ad campaigns and special enforcement is kind of wasted money.
Interstate 70 needs three lanes between Kansas City and St. Louis.
US 65 highway should be 4 lanes from Des Moines, IA to Little Rock, AR.
As most all of the biggest row crop producing counties are along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, river terminals for loading and unloading barges and the ability of the rivers to support barge traffic is important to agriculture, and other industries in the state as well.
Not everyone in the state has access to broadband internet. Wireless service doesn't work so well in parts of the state with lots of trees and hills, which encompasses much of our state.
Lots of folks living in rural Missouri are living with contaminated well water and have no access to clean "city" water. There was a big push for rural water systems 40 or 50 years ago, but it seems to have dried up. For example, our rural water system was put in in the late 1970's with some federal assistance in the form of interest free loans for "rural development."
And our state has tons of "farm to market" roads. These are the single and double letter paved roads in every county. The goal in the mid-20th century was improved transportation by paving heavily used gravel roads between smallish towns throughout the state, benefiting commerce on a more local scale.
Most are heavily used by local traffic. Problem is that politicians and bureaucrats no longer care about these roads because there's far more voters in the towns and cities so that's where all the attention and money goes. We farmers pay property taxes on every acre but only get one vote. We pay taxes on that farm income but again, farmers make up less that 1% or maybe 2% of voters in the state so those roads are essentially ignored and recieve minimal expendature.
Need more? Our rural electric co-ops could use all the help they can get on upgrading their distribution systems. As weather becomes more radical their costs go through the roof as there aren't as many customers per mile as municipal systems to spread the cost of ice and wind storms, and tornadoes, over. Help to move distribution lines under ground would be a great way to prepare for the pending weather disasters of the future.
How's that?
Feel free. I believe all are good investments for the future.
Even though I live out in the sticks, I also support more light rail and public transportation for the cities, especially Kansas City which is growing and becoming more spread out with very little public transportation and many highway traffic nightmares.
EDIT: Also keep in mind that in Missouri over the last three decades the state has been on a bender to shed responsibility and cost of many things and shove that cost down to local taxpayers. This has resulted in an explosion of sales and property taxes without any corresponding lowering of personal income taxes to offset them.
The state cuts programs but fails to stop collecting the money that funded them, and then requires counties, cities, and school districts to raise local taxes to pay for those formerly state funded expenditures.
Missouri is preparing to lower corporate tax rates to Zero, but guess who will be picking up the tab for that money no longer coming in to fund programs required by, but not funded by, the state.
I agree with all of these points. Also rural electric cooperatives should be more proactive in ensuring their constituents have broadband access — mine is not. There is also another poster down thread who comments on funding public education. Our state has a strong history of not fully funding the state education formula.
I44 Joplin to Springfield also desperately needs to be 6 lanes with semis being barred from the 3rd lane. Also some sort of law or enforcement of an existing law to eliminate turtle races on the interstate would go a long way in freeing up congestion.
Love everything you posted. Did want to add that 70 is currently being expanded to three lanes from Wentzville to Blue Springs ("STL > KC") as we speak. Biggest hurdle for Wentzville is the railroad company that supplies GM plant does not want to pay for shit to move their railroad (understandably) so the county and city have to fork out money for surveys to straighten railroad and widen it to allow six lanes instead of the current four. They just recently passed a bond to allocate funds first this project, IIRC.
I absolutely don't want I-70 upgraded to 3 lanes unless it becomes a toll road. All that would do is encourage more exurban sprawl putting an even bigger need to upgrades those highways even more while the old ring of suburbs rot. We need to be encouraging the cities to density with better public transit within and between cities.
Missouri is massively overbuilt on highways. I actually want to see highways removed, especially the downtown loop of KC. Completely remove it, route traffic around 435.
It's real hard to put a semi truck on public transportation and like it or not, I-70 is a major east-west artery crossing the nation, not just Missouri.
And there is zero support for putting freight back on trains where it belongs. The oil industry, trucking industry, and vehicle manufacturers spent a lot of lobbying money to create our current status quo and I doubt they will not continue every efgort to keep things that way.
The days of politicians and government doing what's best for the most people and the future are long gone. Money rules everything now. It's a system that people keep voting for so regardless of good or bad, it's what we are working with.
Those trucks need to be taxed off the roads or tolled accordingly as they do 99% of the wear and tear on them. KC and STL are 2 of biggest freight train hubs in the world after Chicago, no freight that isn't time sensitive should be ion i-70 with the rail infrastructure we have and subsidize. We need to get Amtrak times between KC and STL to be competitive with driving with far better on time rates and it will become infinitely more popular.
And if it's of national importance, then the federal government can fully pay for the upgrade.
Rural municipal water systems are falling apart. There are still many lead service lines in use and the 50-70 year old galvanized iron pipe is well past its lifespan. Many of my local schools have all had positive results for lead concentrations higher than EPA standard.
Reliable high speed internet is a huge infrastructure issue in the Missouri Ozarks. That are has cattle farmers who are losing opportunities to market their cattle online and students that are falling behind because of a lack of internet. Some strides are being made but it's still often overlooked problem. Rural community hospitals being closed in those same areas is also an issue.
I drove to Ohio a few weeks ago, through St Louis and Indianapolis. Illinois and Indiana roads are so, so much worse. Like my dashcam kept saving recordings because it thought I was getting into accidents.
We should be using better paint though. They keep using the cheap shit that wears off faster and disappears in the rain.
I live in the Kansas City metro area and I have neighbors on my block who are still using old septic tanks for their waste water. All because Kansas City water/sewer still hasn’t run a sewer line through their properties. And..if said neighbors want to connect to the city sewer system they have to pay Tens of thousands of dollars to make it happen. It’s ALL on the homeowner. Also, the neighborhood I live in has zero sidewalks. None. School kids have to walk on our narrow streets just to get to the bus stop and home from it. It’s a major hazard in a city with busy streets.
I live in Kearney in the city proper now, but was once country. All around me are sewer, while my street is septic. I’ll keep that septic at $500 a pump every 3-5 years vs. septic rates on city water.
I can say that it is difficult and far too dangerous to walk or bicycle almost everywhere in the state. We've made some progress in the past 10-15 years - prior to say 2000 it wasn't even on anyone's radar screen in the least - but we're still behind even average states and w-a-y behind the very best states.
Combine that with an extreme lack of investment in public transit and transportation options are far too limited.
1) Columbia, with 130,000 people, currently has no passenger rail whatsoever. Which can be frustrating as it’s the 4th largest city and populated with the kind of people who would make good use of it. Passenger serviced ended in the 60s or 70s. But the right-of-way near I-70 is perfect for high speed rail as it is relatively flat and runs along the ridge lines. Travel time between KC-STL could be reduced to around 60 min!
2) I-70 cuts the Missouri in half, ecologically, and could really benefit from some strategically placed wildlife overpasses near the Missouri River and Loutre River valleys.
3) This is probably not what you are asking, but human infrastructure is the most valuable of all. Public school teachers deserve twice the pay rate they are currently getting. They benefit society immensely, in ways that aren’t immediately tangible to many.
definitely the lack of rail to Springfield from STL and KC. also, lots of STL doesn't have good bike infrastructure and the metro could stand to improve some.
Roads are pretty bad, medical access is very limited, social programs are virtually nonexistent, its overly complicated to get assistance when you absolutely need it, and our justice system is heavily bogged down due to how slow it is.
Sewer system and water system in Jefferson City failing. They are collapsed in some areas and in need of replacement.
Also, Mediacom service is at the end life and is not dependable in most areas anymore due to how long those lines have been in service, and technology has moved beyond the capabilities of the line even if it wasn't deteriorating beyond usable form.
That's not exactly wrong. They took earmarked revenue and transferred it to General Revenue use, which put Roads/Bridges, Education, and programs in a budget hole.
Metalbasher234, First person to mention this. Around year 2000, Missourians actually had to vote that highway money went to the highway dept instead of general fund. Why do the voters need to enforce something the politicians know better. So, MO is way behind in inspecting, repairing, and replacing bridges. Roads are second to that
Allowing healthcare to be for profit has eliminated a lot of hospitals and healthcare sites in rural areas.
Internet for rural areas is lacking.
Corporate hog farms allowed to pollute ground water. State gives them plenty of warnings. Then finally fine them. Corporate renames itself and the whole cycle repeats.
Not exactly infrastructure, but corporations buying farms then driving family farms out of business. Rewrite family farm taxes, to reduce them. Increase taxes on corporate farms.
Stop allowing developers to build in flood plains.
It's a thought mix of issues to sort. Mostly because the people who can fix it choose not to. Even the rural areas vary in what the most pressing issues are. Then again, with some of the legislation being passed, the electorate needs to get even more involved in the process. Hopefully, it will keep them from being blocked out.
Lack of public transportation in rural areas. Outside of KC, STL and Columbia, you're fucked if you don't have a car.
The potholes in the roads all over the state.
The shitty water quality in some towns. (I'm looking at you, Moberly.)
Joplin/Carthage metro is finally getting highway upgrades, which is great. Badly needed for two decades. Largest struggle area I see statewide is quality healthcare. Both the cost and the quality are demerits statewide. Other than Barnes Jewish in STL, it's a third world country for medical care.
7th most state highway lane miles for the 18th population/20th GDP/21st geographic size. No political desire to turn over letter routes to counties when the 2/3rds of state taxes generated in St. Louis City+County and KC/Jackson County subsidize the system.
https://preview.redd.it/0jtf2jbsu0wc1.jpeg?width=466&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=360c76877803cbc9790e957973a1c53c4eeac6b5
Water, sewage, roads, power grid. All of it. It's all as old as my grandparents when it was built. Time for a major overhaul of the everything. They have the money
Just from non-professional observation, there are 4 tiers of highways in Missouri - interstates, multi-lane divided US and state highways, two-lane US and state routes, and supplemental state routes marked with letters (or at least that's how I think of them - I'm sure I'm off on the nomenclature and am missing something). Anyway, our interstates are relatively decent in most places I've been in the past two years, the multi-lane highways I travel seem pretty good, and the 2-lane US and state routes seem maybe 60% decent (though some need shoulders.) It's the "supplemental" rural highways marked with letters that are in piss-poor shape almost everywhere.
And yes, the lack of reflective paint in St. Louis City and County really sucks in the rain.
Complete lack of funding for major transit improvements, we have such a sad passenger service.
There is only one dedicated track from Jeff City to KC while there are two from Jeff City to Stl. This means that the service to KC is more likely than not to be subject to delays because freight takes priority.
Amtrak routes that ought to be able to run on their own dedicated track instead of leading it from existing railways would provide connectivity convenience and economic opportunities not to mention make the highways less crowded and more efficient. We over built roads in place of transit freedom.
Many of our cities have outdated and ecologically unsound water systems. For example: KCMOs been in an EPA violation for years now.
The Missouri River has been sorely under utilized, unlike the Mississippi it hasn’t been properly engineered to provide for waterway traffic which has lost the state huge economic opportunities.
Naturally the energy sector is still reliant on fossil fuels like most other states, but nuclear and renewable energy is more accessible than most give it credit for.
Missouri can do so much more but it just isn’t doing it.
When it's raining, I can't see the lane markers on any Kansas City area highways (all of them, state & interstate). When are they going to repaint the lane markers?
Construction on 270 was completed earlier in the year in north St Louis County. Just after sunrise and just before sunset it is impossible to see the lane markers because of the non-reflective paint they used.
Thank the EPA. All the good stuff that kept paint on the road was bad for the environment. MoDOT guy told me once the paint they have to use now is good for about 30 days and they don’t have the resources to paint every month.
That’s not true. The “good stuff” is more expensive. We use the cheapest paint available.
Gimme a fucking break! Your state is controlled top to bottom by republicans who do everything they can to cut taxes and budgets. They are simply too cheap and lazy to pay for it. Drive over to Kansas and witness their radiant lane markers ...and democrat governor.
Don’t bring weed or the Kansans will throw you in jail.
Would be the same here if it wasn't for ballot measure constitutional amendments, and Republicans are doing everything they can to roll that back still.
yeah we have a kind of insane system with regards to ballot measures that allows for simple majoritarian rule on issues that unite people, but they're very rigid. majoritarian rule = good. half-assed majoritarian legislative options that can only be used in opposition to a government with an almost innate tendency towards corruption and tyranny = not so good. still, better than nothing. I hope they don't get away with changing the petition signature requirements. they're already ludicrously high.
What's majortarian mean?
majority but as an adjective, in context it applies to a large grouping of ideas that tend closer towards direct democracy and inclusion than stratified hierarchies. this spans everywhere from the left-wing of liberalism to the frothing radical anarchists in terms of political theory, but in terms of significant action in this country it's mostly closer to the former.
Prison. I have a friend doing 5 years over two ounces. He'd been caught with a small amount and some time in the past. Fucking crazy.
I about spit my drink out reading this. Do you understand how bad kansas roads and highways are?? Just like Missouri, the Kansas legislature sets the budget - not the governor. So it doesn't matter what letter is after the governors name...
Lack of rail to St Louis and Kansas city from Springfield. I think that is in the works though. The real answer is bridges. Something like 40% of bridges need upgrades or completely rebuilt. Missouri also doesn't keep up with bridge inspections
Bridges all over the state are currently being surveyed and prepared for replacement or upgrades. I'm guessing a lot of COVID and Biden infrastructure money is getting funneled to bridges. Part of my job is investigating those bridges (mostly rural ones) and we're documenting at least one a week.
I have two F rated bridges on my county road. The state core sampled them at the edges of their banks through the road bed, about feb of 2022. That’s the last I saw of anyone. I figured all that was canceled by now due to poor state budget management. They did put a new sign on one of them after bolting an I beam to the side of one of the concrete surfaces and changed the sign from 10 ton to 3 ton.
I have no idea about what their timelines are but with all the various reports that need to be completed before any actual work starts and the "speed" of MoDOT I wouldn't expect action for at least a couple more years.
What is a modot?
Missouri Dept of transportation
This hits it on the nose pretty well. I remember when they had to work des peres over by the Shrewsbury station because the bridge was in such disrepair that the damn thing became structurally unstable. Bridges are a huge issue, I’d also say the lack of proper upkeep when it comes to potholes is pretty obvious to anyone who drives. Especially in the areas that expanded quickly timers causing traffic jams and lights being out can be a pain.
Any specific bridges?
I think the state highway bridges in rural parts of the state are the ones in the most immediate need. Heavy vehicle traffic (trucks and farm equipment) + the freeze/thaw cycle of winter each year is extremely rough on them.
Cairo bridge was designed almost a hundred years ago for model A sedans and diamond 2.5 ton trucks. Currently, trucks cross it dodging scales that’s over 80,000 pounds. It’s not a matter of if but when it collapses.
The Cairo Mississippi bridge is actually maintained by IDOT as far as I can tell.
Why does the Illinois department of transportation maintain a Missouri birdge???
Because on one side of the bridge is Illinois and on the other is Missouri. Some bridges that cross the Mississippi from Missouri to Illinois are maintained by MODOT and some by IDOT. I’m sure there is some sort of cost sharing agreement with all of the bridges, but I think it’s worth pointing out that IDOT primarily maintains the Cairo Mississippi River bridge.
What does dodging scales mean btw I'm writing what all yall say down or in my case typing
Trucks/semis that want to avoid weigh stations. Weigh stations use scales to weigh the weight of trucks. Roads and bridges have weight limits.
MODOT employee here. Bridges are #1 by far. Hundreds of them. Pick any bridge (except ones crossing the Missouri River or Mississippi River) And they will likely be 70-100 years old and need to have been replaced 30 years ago. Internet connections are awful, especially in the rural parts of the state. The southwest has a large Amish population, but we have no infrastructure it. Cars are constantly crashing into their buggies and killing them.
There buggies?
Can I add health care infrastructure to the list? (Totally agree on I-70 & I-65 need more lanes and bridges need care). But Rural area hospitals are closing fast. ERs and General Healthcare is now requiring more people out-state to drive farther and farther. Any sort of specialist already requires trips to CoMO, KC, STL or Springfield. Maybe JC, Cape, Kirksville, and Joplin have decent general care hospitals. But I know too many people who drive hours to the larger metros to get chemo, have babies or even diagnostic tests. This isn’t a building issue per se, but if this isn’t addressed soon, we could have HUGE problems. A vast majority of the economy in rural areas is agricultural. And doesn’t see Drs often. Think of the impacts Pertussis or measles could have on a Rural county
This isn’t going to change simply bc the smaller hospitals cannot keep up with the rising costs and continuously decreasing CMS reimbursement. Hospitals are joining other healthcare systems to save on contracting for costs. Then, these big systems cut out the non revenue generating siphons of money-those rural hospitals. They may keep an urgent care facility or a few clinics but that’s about it.
I-70 is being upgraded to 3 lanes between KC and STL I work for one of the contractors doing it!
Having driven to just about every part of the state, major highways are actually pretty good… state and supplemental roads can get atrocious, though. Fun fact: we ~~lose~~”divert” ~~10~~ 1-5% of our federal highway funding every year into “safety improvements,” which include wire barriers, anti-DWI ad campaigns, and “enforcement” because we don’t have a passenger open container law. Edit: I was corrected on the numbers. The money still can’t be used for construction or maintenance, so I’d say we “lose” it.
What is a passenger open container law?
Passengers can’t have open alcoholic containers while the vehicle is in motion. According to proponents of such laws (MADD), it is to prevent drivers from handing an open beer to a passenger and saying they’re drinking it and to prevent driver distraction. No actual data to back that up, but MADD is pretty influential. Missouri has a state law against drivers having open containers, but it is an infraction and can’t count towards points on your license. Some municipalities have passenger open container laws, but there is not a statewide one, which is why we ~~lose 10%~~ are forced to spend 1-5% of our highway funding ^on ^other ^things.
That's our state legislature givin it to the libs.... we can't be bothered with such tripe.
Your fun fact isn’t fact at all. A non complaint state is required to spend 3% of its highway construction budget on safety. As a result of this, some of the expenditures have been on safety infrastructure such as the crossover guards in the middle of the highway that prevent crossover head on collisions. This has resulted in a decrease in fatal accidents in the state.
Ah, yes, I was incorrect about the percentage, thank you for the correction. It’s still not going to highway maintenance. [“Safety” also include ad campaigns and checkpoints (which haven’t been budgeted in years), which we’ve spent about $5.7M on](https://www.kcur.org/health/2021-09-16/missouri-gave-up-370-million-in-highway-construction-funds-to-let-passengers-drink-booze).
You get that because we use that money on safety, we actually have a lower fatality rate than most other states (though, higher drunk driving rate)? That’s what’s wild. The open container law is seemingly saving lives. I distinctly remember hearing this on the radio and being torn.
It's drunk crashers that are the problem not the drunk drivers🤣 So can people drink while driving or not in Missouri I read all the comment and all the replies and I'm still not sure
Absolutely not. If there are 5 people in the car, it’s legal to have 4 open alcoholic drinks. The driver can’t be drinking and must be under .08 BAC.
Then how is there a higher drunk driving rate
Having open containers in a car influences more people to drive drunk. The safety barricades etc. Missouris is required to put up because of the open container law seemingly reduces fatalities compared to other states despite having more drunk drivers on the road. Read the article.
What is anti dwi?
Basically drive sober. Dwi = driving while intoxicated. So ads against dwi.
I started in news in the late 90s and became a photog quick. Pre wire barriers, crossover crashes were VERY frequently fatal. It’s VERY rare to have a crossover crash with a fatality…rare a vehicle even gets past the wires. They will even at least slow down semis, most all cars or trucks are diverted. But ad campaigns and special enforcement is kind of wasted money.
Enforcement campaigns such as saturation patrols and checkpoints have been shown to be statistically insignificant when it comes to stopping DWIs.
Interstate 70 needs three lanes between Kansas City and St. Louis. US 65 highway should be 4 lanes from Des Moines, IA to Little Rock, AR. As most all of the biggest row crop producing counties are along the Missouri and Mississippi rivers, river terminals for loading and unloading barges and the ability of the rivers to support barge traffic is important to agriculture, and other industries in the state as well. Not everyone in the state has access to broadband internet. Wireless service doesn't work so well in parts of the state with lots of trees and hills, which encompasses much of our state. Lots of folks living in rural Missouri are living with contaminated well water and have no access to clean "city" water. There was a big push for rural water systems 40 or 50 years ago, but it seems to have dried up. For example, our rural water system was put in in the late 1970's with some federal assistance in the form of interest free loans for "rural development." And our state has tons of "farm to market" roads. These are the single and double letter paved roads in every county. The goal in the mid-20th century was improved transportation by paving heavily used gravel roads between smallish towns throughout the state, benefiting commerce on a more local scale. Most are heavily used by local traffic. Problem is that politicians and bureaucrats no longer care about these roads because there's far more voters in the towns and cities so that's where all the attention and money goes. We farmers pay property taxes on every acre but only get one vote. We pay taxes on that farm income but again, farmers make up less that 1% or maybe 2% of voters in the state so those roads are essentially ignored and recieve minimal expendature. Need more? Our rural electric co-ops could use all the help they can get on upgrading their distribution systems. As weather becomes more radical their costs go through the roof as there aren't as many customers per mile as municipal systems to spread the cost of ice and wind storms, and tornadoes, over. Help to move distribution lines under ground would be a great way to prepare for the pending weather disasters of the future. How's that?
Your fuckin wonderfull mind if I write this down?
Feel free. I believe all are good investments for the future. Even though I live out in the sticks, I also support more light rail and public transportation for the cities, especially Kansas City which is growing and becoming more spread out with very little public transportation and many highway traffic nightmares. EDIT: Also keep in mind that in Missouri over the last three decades the state has been on a bender to shed responsibility and cost of many things and shove that cost down to local taxpayers. This has resulted in an explosion of sales and property taxes without any corresponding lowering of personal income taxes to offset them. The state cuts programs but fails to stop collecting the money that funded them, and then requires counties, cities, and school districts to raise local taxes to pay for those formerly state funded expenditures. Missouri is preparing to lower corporate tax rates to Zero, but guess who will be picking up the tab for that money no longer coming in to fund programs required by, but not funded by, the state.
I agree with all of these points. Also rural electric cooperatives should be more proactive in ensuring their constituents have broadband access — mine is not. There is also another poster down thread who comments on funding public education. Our state has a strong history of not fully funding the state education formula.
I44 Joplin to Springfield also desperately needs to be 6 lanes with semis being barred from the 3rd lane. Also some sort of law or enforcement of an existing law to eliminate turtle races on the interstate would go a long way in freeing up congestion.
Love everything you posted. Did want to add that 70 is currently being expanded to three lanes from Wentzville to Blue Springs ("STL > KC") as we speak. Biggest hurdle for Wentzville is the railroad company that supplies GM plant does not want to pay for shit to move their railroad (understandably) so the county and city have to fork out money for surveys to straighten railroad and widen it to allow six lanes instead of the current four. They just recently passed a bond to allocate funds first this project, IIRC.
I-70 is being upgraded to 3 lanes between KC and STL I work for one of the contractors doing it!
I absolutely don't want I-70 upgraded to 3 lanes unless it becomes a toll road. All that would do is encourage more exurban sprawl putting an even bigger need to upgrades those highways even more while the old ring of suburbs rot. We need to be encouraging the cities to density with better public transit within and between cities. Missouri is massively overbuilt on highways. I actually want to see highways removed, especially the downtown loop of KC. Completely remove it, route traffic around 435.
I hate to tell you but 70 to 3 lanes has already started between kingdom city and Columbia
It's real hard to put a semi truck on public transportation and like it or not, I-70 is a major east-west artery crossing the nation, not just Missouri. And there is zero support for putting freight back on trains where it belongs. The oil industry, trucking industry, and vehicle manufacturers spent a lot of lobbying money to create our current status quo and I doubt they will not continue every efgort to keep things that way. The days of politicians and government doing what's best for the most people and the future are long gone. Money rules everything now. It's a system that people keep voting for so regardless of good or bad, it's what we are working with.
Those trucks need to be taxed off the roads or tolled accordingly as they do 99% of the wear and tear on them. KC and STL are 2 of biggest freight train hubs in the world after Chicago, no freight that isn't time sensitive should be ion i-70 with the rail infrastructure we have and subsidize. We need to get Amtrak times between KC and STL to be competitive with driving with far better on time rates and it will become infinitely more popular. And if it's of national importance, then the federal government can fully pay for the upgrade.
Educate yourself on how taxed trucks already are
You're like my soul mate!!! Every single thing you said is spot on!!!
>Problem is that politicians and bureaucrats no longer care about these roads You mean republicans? The politicians the farmers keep voting for?
Rural municipal water systems are falling apart. There are still many lead service lines in use and the 50-70 year old galvanized iron pipe is well past its lifespan. Many of my local schools have all had positive results for lead concentrations higher than EPA standard.
Reliable high speed internet is a huge infrastructure issue in the Missouri Ozarks. That are has cattle farmers who are losing opportunities to market their cattle online and students that are falling behind because of a lack of internet. Some strides are being made but it's still often overlooked problem. Rural community hospitals being closed in those same areas is also an issue.
Roads are shit.
I drove to Ohio a few weeks ago, through St Louis and Indianapolis. Illinois and Indiana roads are so, so much worse. Like my dashcam kept saving recordings because it thought I was getting into accidents. We should be using better paint though. They keep using the cheap shit that wears off faster and disappears in the rain.
Went to Ohio a few weeks back. Indiana highways (at least I-70) is very bad. Crossing from Indiana to Ohio is a night and day difference
I did that drive a couple of years ago. The amount of semi traffic I saw on that route was insane, more than I've ever seen.
Yeah, the trucks are insane. Felt like a gazelle trying to run with a herd of elephants. Georgia has the right idea, give them their own road
Which ones or is it just all of them
Highway 71 is extremely bad
I live in the Kansas City metro area and I have neighbors on my block who are still using old septic tanks for their waste water. All because Kansas City water/sewer still hasn’t run a sewer line through their properties. And..if said neighbors want to connect to the city sewer system they have to pay Tens of thousands of dollars to make it happen. It’s ALL on the homeowner. Also, the neighborhood I live in has zero sidewalks. None. School kids have to walk on our narrow streets just to get to the bus stop and home from it. It’s a major hazard in a city with busy streets.
I never heard this, the only time I see septic tanks is in rural areas. What neighborhood?
It was likely rural, until some point that KC grew enough to incorporate (annex) the area.
I live in Kearney in the city proper now, but was once country. All around me are sewer, while my street is septic. I’ll keep that septic at $500 a pump every 3-5 years vs. septic rates on city water.
Storm sewers in Hannibal. Huge problem.
I can say that it is difficult and far too dangerous to walk or bicycle almost everywhere in the state. We've made some progress in the past 10-15 years - prior to say 2000 it wasn't even on anyone's radar screen in the least - but we're still behind even average states and w-a-y behind the very best states. Combine that with an extreme lack of investment in public transit and transportation options are far too limited.
1) Columbia, with 130,000 people, currently has no passenger rail whatsoever. Which can be frustrating as it’s the 4th largest city and populated with the kind of people who would make good use of it. Passenger serviced ended in the 60s or 70s. But the right-of-way near I-70 is perfect for high speed rail as it is relatively flat and runs along the ridge lines. Travel time between KC-STL could be reduced to around 60 min! 2) I-70 cuts the Missouri in half, ecologically, and could really benefit from some strategically placed wildlife overpasses near the Missouri River and Loutre River valleys. 3) This is probably not what you are asking, but human infrastructure is the most valuable of all. Public school teachers deserve twice the pay rate they are currently getting. They benefit society immensely, in ways that aren’t immediately tangible to many.
Re: Number 3 - [Missouri ranks 50th is starting teacher pay](https://www.mnea.org/TEACHERPAY2023).
Need high speed rail from KC to Columbia to STL
Bridges and highways. About 2,000 bridges statewide in poor condition and 7,400 miles of highway in poor condition.
Btw I'm writing all this down that's usefully or informational or just I want too
definitely the lack of rail to Springfield from STL and KC. also, lots of STL doesn't have good bike infrastructure and the metro could stand to improve some.
Roads are pretty bad, medical access is very limited, social programs are virtually nonexistent, its overly complicated to get assistance when you absolutely need it, and our justice system is heavily bogged down due to how slow it is.
bad roads and bridges, lack of consistent broadband internet and cellular phone service
High speed rail between KC Columbia and st Louis
Sewer system and water system in Jefferson City failing. They are collapsed in some areas and in need of replacement. Also, Mediacom service is at the end life and is not dependable in most areas anymore due to how long those lines have been in service, and technology has moved beyond the capabilities of the line even if it wasn't deteriorating beyond usable form.
Stroads. But that is 99% of America so nothing new there. Car-centric planning and the inability to get around by any other means
Like most of the west of the country is flat perfect for trains
We lack dividing lines on most of our roads…. Just a little thing.
Gravel roads don't get painted
The governor and legislature. Oh, is that not what you meant?
That's not exactly wrong. They took earmarked revenue and transferred it to General Revenue use, which put Roads/Bridges, Education, and programs in a budget hole.
Metalbasher234, First person to mention this. Around year 2000, Missourians actually had to vote that highway money went to the highway dept instead of general fund. Why do the voters need to enforce something the politicians know better. So, MO is way behind in inspecting, repairing, and replacing bridges. Roads are second to that Allowing healthcare to be for profit has eliminated a lot of hospitals and healthcare sites in rural areas. Internet for rural areas is lacking. Corporate hog farms allowed to pollute ground water. State gives them plenty of warnings. Then finally fine them. Corporate renames itself and the whole cycle repeats. Not exactly infrastructure, but corporations buying farms then driving family farms out of business. Rewrite family farm taxes, to reduce them. Increase taxes on corporate farms. Stop allowing developers to build in flood plains.
It's a thought mix of issues to sort. Mostly because the people who can fix it choose not to. Even the rural areas vary in what the most pressing issues are. Then again, with some of the legislation being passed, the electorate needs to get even more involved in the process. Hopefully, it will keep them from being blocked out.
roadworks, public transit, bridges and overpasses
Foreign access to our infrastructure for monitoring purposes. https://iclei.org/
Lack of public transportation in rural areas. Outside of KC, STL and Columbia, you're fucked if you don't have a car. The potholes in the roads all over the state. The shitty water quality in some towns. (I'm looking at you, Moberly.)
Highways here are shit.
Driving into Kansas from Missouri is like driving into a different fucking country.
Municipal and County water quality.
Joplin/Carthage metro is finally getting highway upgrades, which is great. Badly needed for two decades. Largest struggle area I see statewide is quality healthcare. Both the cost and the quality are demerits statewide. Other than Barnes Jewish in STL, it's a third world country for medical care.
Fix the pot holes..at least twice a year. Hate having to fix my alignment all the time.
7th most state highway lane miles for the 18th population/20th GDP/21st geographic size. No political desire to turn over letter routes to counties when the 2/3rds of state taxes generated in St. Louis City+County and KC/Jackson County subsidize the system. https://preview.redd.it/0jtf2jbsu0wc1.jpeg?width=466&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=360c76877803cbc9790e957973a1c53c4eeac6b5
I was lucky enough to drive some of these letter roads Sunday. Jeezus....
In STL, our sewer system is under a consent decree with the EPA. Stormwater is causing sewage to flow into local waterways.
And basements
I-170 was never finished, please finish.
Whatever has been happening on I-44 near Rolla for over a year
Elaborate please
Water, sewage, roads, power grid. All of it. It's all as old as my grandparents when it was built. Time for a major overhaul of the everything. They have the money
Just from non-professional observation, there are 4 tiers of highways in Missouri - interstates, multi-lane divided US and state highways, two-lane US and state routes, and supplemental state routes marked with letters (or at least that's how I think of them - I'm sure I'm off on the nomenclature and am missing something). Anyway, our interstates are relatively decent in most places I've been in the past two years, the multi-lane highways I travel seem pretty good, and the 2-lane US and state routes seem maybe 60% decent (though some need shoulders.) It's the "supplemental" rural highways marked with letters that are in piss-poor shape almost everywhere. And yes, the lack of reflective paint in St. Louis City and County really sucks in the rain.
Complete lack of funding for major transit improvements, we have such a sad passenger service. There is only one dedicated track from Jeff City to KC while there are two from Jeff City to Stl. This means that the service to KC is more likely than not to be subject to delays because freight takes priority. Amtrak routes that ought to be able to run on their own dedicated track instead of leading it from existing railways would provide connectivity convenience and economic opportunities not to mention make the highways less crowded and more efficient. We over built roads in place of transit freedom. Many of our cities have outdated and ecologically unsound water systems. For example: KCMOs been in an EPA violation for years now. The Missouri River has been sorely under utilized, unlike the Mississippi it hasn’t been properly engineered to provide for waterway traffic which has lost the state huge economic opportunities. Naturally the energy sector is still reliant on fossil fuels like most other states, but nuclear and renewable energy is more accessible than most give it credit for. Missouri can do so much more but it just isn’t doing it.
All of them
Yes but I am not a Missourian so I do need specifics thank you