MoDOT puts brakes on Highway 34 speeders

To slow down drivers and reduce accidents along and near Highway 34, police have stepped up enforcement and, on one section of the highway, fines for driving violations will be doubled.

Highway 34 is the winding, narrow two-lane highway that links Jackson, Marble Hill, Mo., and Piedmont, Mo. The 87-mile highway stops just east of Van Buren, Mo.

Crews have been working at Highway 34's intersection with Highway 72 since last summer, widening the highway to four lanes and installing traffic signals. Eric Krapf, project manager for the Missouri Department of Transportation, said the project should be completed this spring or summer, depending on the weather.

But for local resident Ken Hotop, the construction can't finish quickly enough. In the past few months, his mother, daughter and grandmother were involved in three car accidents at the dangerous intersection. Hotop said he sees broken glass and other signs of wreckage there every few days.

Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Aaron Harrison said fender benders at and near that intersection are routine -- rear-end accidents in the morning, T-bone crashes in the afternoon. Few of the accidents cause major injuries, but most cause minor damage.

"You get the same response -- they were looking back to see if traffic was coming and the car in front stopped," he said. "I pray to God they get those stoplights in quickly. That would alleviate those accidents."

In the meantime, he said, the current combination of heavy commuter traffic and limited sight distance will continue to yield fender benders until the road renovation corrects the problem.

Harrison said drivers can reduce the chances of an accident by slowing down while traveling through the area, and "making sure the car ahead leaves before looking back" to check for oncoming traffic.

Craig Compas, the head traffic engineer for MoDOT, said about 11,000 cars travel through the intersection every day, with peak traffic between 5 and 6 p.m. Electronic message boards are put up, warning drivers of the construction area, but some motorists aren't complying.

Traffic enforcement is being stepped up in the area to elicit safer driving habits. Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper Jim McNeill said over the past month the highway patrol has stepped up its cooperative enforcement with Bollinger County.

"Visibility does make an impact. People see cars getting pulled over and it has a tendency to slow people down," McNeill said. "That section of road has brought some bad accidents and there are citizens concerned. We want to make it safer and slow people down. We're trying to send a message."

Drivers on Highway 34 can expect not only to see more law enforcement officers, but a doubling in fines in the newly designated Travel Safe Zone.

The Missouri Legislature established Travel Safe Zones in 2008 to improve the safety of specific roadway segments.

Signs are placed at the beginning and end of the zones, and within these designated locations the fines imposed for moving or speeding violations are doubled.

The five-mile stretch of Highway 34 designated by MoDOT as a Travel Safe Zone starts at Marble Hill's city limits and extends west, ending near County Road 808. The designation, which is permanent, takes effect Monday. Electronic message boards were displayed along the new zone to notify drivers of the change until permanent signs can be erected.

"We try to educate everyone what a safe zone is. That gives them a chance to alter their behavior before the doubling of the fines is implemented," said Southeast Coalition Regional Committee chairman Lt. John Davis.

The committee is an independent coalition with members from hospitals, police departments, the highway patrol, MoDOT, civic groups and various safety organizations. Its task is to reduce driving accidents on Missouri roads by identifying hazardous areas, then recommending to MoDOT, area communities and law enforcement which areas need Travel Safe Zone designations.