If the Rolla business people and residents who attended the Rolla Regional Economic Commission meeting were looking for a positive sign for improvements to U.S. Route 63 from transportation officials, it came in the form of an update on the Environmental Impact Statement.
“By the end of November, we should get environmental clearance,” said Tom Stehn, South Central District Engineer for the Missouri Department of Transportation. “We’ve submitted it to the Federal Highway Commission. This is a very good thing for us.”
Stehn made his comments Friday during the RREC meeting that was attended by 37 Rolla and regional residents, many of whom are business people.
“Highway 63 is ranked second on a priority, right behind the Mississippi River Bridge,” Stehn said. “It’s part of the long-range plans for the area.”
Stehn, who was accompanied by Roger Schwartze, the District 5 Engineer, said Route 63 would be done in seven stages, and area residents could have input into what segment could be started first. In fact, Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s Executive Director Richard Cavender said his agency has been tabbed as the receiver to report input it tabulates on the preferential sequence of those seven stages.
“Since Route 63 is in two transportation districts, it’s conceivable we could see two segments worked on simultaneously, if we play our cards right,” Cavender said.
The project, from Route 50 to Rolla is 47 miles long. The new plan is to straighten it, somewhat, shortening the trip by 2.4 miles. The cost is estimated to be $225 million.
“A lot of the route is going through a new location,” Stehn said. “It’s 2.4 miles shorter because we are taking a lot of the more dangerous curves out. ... Much of the straightening is in the rural areas. For example, there’s a stretch (between Rolla and Jefferson City) where during the last five years there have been 32 head-on crashes.”
While traffic on the stretch only sees about 6,000 vehicles a day, 16 percent of that traffic is trucking.
“That represents a high percentage of trucks, and if it’s upgraded, we’ll see even more than that. That number will increase,” Stehn said.
“Two-thirds of this stretch is no-passing,” Stehn said. “If anyone has ever gotten behind a truck in this stretch, you know how difficult it is to get around.”
Then Stehn touched on something that most of the 37 people who attended wanted to hear — that of the economic impact of improving U.S. Route 63 from two- to a four-lane highway.
Offering figures, Stehn offered these facts:
• In areas near St. Louis, Kansas City and Springfield, the populations along highways that transitioned from two- to four-lanes has virtually doubled;
• The average wage per earner is $3,000 more;
• The number of businesses have more than doubled;
• Gross economic sales are more than three times after than what they were before;
• Real estate values on the average more than doubled.
“Why do this?” Stehn asked rhetorically. “Obviously, its for the economic benefits.”
Stehn stressed the importance of Missouri proceeding along with the U.S. Route 63 project, as doing so might then entice Arkansas and Iowa to follow.
“The poverty rate, for example, in Arkansas for people between 18 and 64 ranges from 14 to 27 percent,” Stehn said. “The economic benefits, in time, pay for the project.”
