Officials commemorate Highway 34 improvements

MARBLE HILL, Mo. -- The Missouri Department of Transportation and local officials cut the ribbon Tuesday morning for the Highway 34 project that straightened curves, added shoulders and resurfaced the road through Route ZZ near Glenallen, Mo.

"It's great weather, a great day, and the job has been a long time in the planning," MoDOT district engineer Mark Shelton said from a lectern at Woodland School's parking lot in view of the highway.

The project cost $8.3 million and was finished seven months ahead of schedule, Shelton said.

Highway 34 is one of the first highways in Missouri, built in 1922, said state Sen. Wayne Wallingford. It's well-traveled and important to the area. However, the

road is curvy, narrow and has seen car accidents that resulted in deaths.

Shelton said improving the road has been a priority since he began working at MoDOT's Southeastern District eight years ago. Kristi Nitsch, an aide with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith and former U.S. Rep. Jo Ann Emerson, said she's been working on the project for more than 17 years; when her mother taught at Woodland School in the 1980s, the road was a concern then.

"We're disappointed that it was a long time coming, but proud we got it done," Shelton said.

Along the way, several agencies made road improvements possible, Shelton said. The Delta Regional Authority was involved, federal representatives and senators did their part in providing funding, and in an unusual partnership, the Woodland School District joined forces with MoDOT out of the school's concern over serious flooding issues on the road.

Woodland flooded three times, and the water around it rose so high that cars were swept into the water. Three people drowned, superintendent Jennings Wilkinson said. Those problems cost the school district more than $2 million, and the school board was ready to address the flood issue on its own until it learned that MoDOT had a plan for Highway 34.

The school's partnership with MoDOT saved several hundred thousand dollars that the school district would have had to pay had it not worked with MoDOT, Wilkinson said.

"Now we have a highway when there is high water we can still get emergency vehicle traffic to the west side of the county," Wilkinson said.