MoDOT looks to cut 6 percent of staff

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation is looking to eliminate more than 6 percent of its work force by 2013 to help reduce costs to the state, which is currently facing an estimated $500 million budget shortfall. While testifying before a Senate hearing Thursday, MoDOT director of program delivery Dave Nichols said the department hopes to eliminate 400 jobs from a department that employed 6,300 last year. The department has already eliminated roughly 200 positions since 2010, hoping to avoid layoffs by leaving vacated positions unfilled. Nichols said the department hopes to further save cost by putting a freeze on major equipment purchases and facilities projects, adding that MoDOT had to become "faster and leaner."