MoDOT announces Southeast Missouri road projects funded by stimulus

Missouri kicked off spending its share of the $789 economic stimulus program Tuesday with the awarding of four highway projects including one on Interstate 55 in Southeast Missouri.

Almost before the ink was dry on President Obama's signature, the Missouri Department of Transportation was holding news conferences announcing the projects. In Southeast Missouri, District 10 engineer Mark Shelton joined officials of Delta Asphalt Co. in Cape Girardeau to talk about an $18.4 million repaving project for New Madrid and Pemiscot counties.

"This is the quickest anyone has moved on a program before," Shelton said.

Because of the award, Delta Asphalt will refrain from laying off 23 quarry workers and call back seven mechanics, said Jerry Bushelman, senior vice president for operations. The company is already stockpiling rock for asphalt. "When we laid people off last year we told them it looked bleak," Bushelman said. "Our quarry was scheduled for a three month shutdown and most of our mechanics were laid off until mid-March to late April."

The project will put a 3-3/4-inch layer of asphalt on 30 miles of southbound lanes and 24 miles of northbound lanes in New Madrid and Pemiscot counties. The project was on the Southeast District's wish list but had never been put on the Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, the five-year program that lists highway projects the state thinks it can afford.

Overall, MoDOT expects $640 million from the stimulus. The state expects to retain or create 14,000 jobs with the funding. MoDOT intends to seek bids on two other major Southeast Missouri projects soon, Shelton said, one on I-55 in Pemiscot County and another on Route 34 in Wayne County.

The White House on Tuesday released an estimate of the number of jobs tied to the stimulus package. In the Eighth Congressional District, represented by U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, R-Cape Girardeau, the White House estimates the stimulus bill will save or create 7,300 jobs. Emerson voted against the stimulus bill.

Job losses have hit the Eighth District hard, totaling 9,454 since December 2007. The unemployment rate in the Eighth District has increased to 8.9 percent from 6.3 percent, according to the Missouri Economic Research and Information Center.

MoDOT began getting ready for stimulus spending in November and December, said Pete Rahn, director of the department.

The state was able to move quickly by using cash earmarked for other projects that would not be spent until later in the year, money that will be reimbursed as stimulus projects get underway, Rahn said. The department will also avoid a big drop-off in highway spending because of the stimulus, Rahn said. "This buys a year to a year and a half before we are hitting the rocks," Rahn said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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