STUDIES ON ROAD PROJECTS NEAR COMPLETION

Missouri Department of Transportation location studies of proposed improvements along Routes 25 and 74 and Routes 34 and 72 are nearing completion. When final, they will provide the documentation that will allow the projects to proceed.

MoDOT has proposed improving Highway 74 to four lanes beginning at the Highway 77 and 25 intersection past Dutchtown and terminating at the intersection of Highway 74 and I-55.

The project also involves reconfiguring the Dutchtown interchange at I-55.

Another location study is being concluded for expansion of Highway 34-72 from two to five lanes in Jackson.

Location studies are performed whenever road projects are undertaken. "They're going to have impacts to property owners," says Kathryn Erickson, public affairs manager for QST Environmental Inc. "They need to clearly understand what the impacts are going to be."

QST Environmental Inc. has been hired by MoDOT to perform the studies. Subconsultant American Resources Group is conducting the field investigations, which require walking the land and talking to the people who live there.

Location studies take between 18 and 36 months to complete and evaluate the areas from more than 15 different perspectives, including cultural and environmental resources that would be affected.

Because the Highway 34-72 project simply involves broadening an existing roadway, cultural artifacts probably won't be encountered, says Erickson.

"Basically we're impacting people's front lawns."

But more open-ended projects like the Highway 25 and 74 improvements provide more possibilities, both for cultural and environmental impacts and the discovery of artifacts.

Any artifacts found are returned to the landowner if a written request is made, or they are archived at the University of Missouri at Columbia.

Besides considering wetlands and whether burial grounds are located nearby, location studies also consider the "human environment," Erickson said. "We're talking with folks who live and work and use these road systems."

Chris Erickson, who is QST's environmental coordinator and Kathryn Erickson's husband, said AMG was out doing the study for awhile and hopes to be out again next week. "We will know soon if there is anything out there," he said.

Once complete, the field study will go to QST, MoDOT and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources' Historic Preservation Commission for review.

A location study is expected to begin soon on the proposed improvements of Highway 34 west to Van Buren. MoDOT has not yet given the go-ahead on the 85-mile corridor.