By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Interstate 29, closed since widespread flooding heavily damaged the interstate in Iowa, has re-opened to traffic through northwest Missouri.

Repairs are ongoing in southwest Iowa, but enough has been done to re-open two lanes of I-29 between US Highway 34 and the Missouri border.

Iowa transportation official Scott Suhr says it took a lot of effort to return I-29 to a functional road.

“The contractor’s been in there working for the last several weeks and has made significant progress,” Suhr tells Radio Iowa. “It won’t be completely opened up to two lanes in each direction, motorists will experience some head to head situations — and also one lane through part of it.”

Suhr urges drivers to use caution.

The re-opening came much quicker than expected. Originally, it was projected that the interstate would re-open to traffic no earlier than the Memorial Day weekend.

The Iowa Department of Transportation has imposed lane restrictions and is not allowing anything wider than 20 feet on the newly re-opened portion of I-29.

Missouri transportation officials closed I-29 just north of St. Joseph after Iowa closed the interstate just north of the state line, because there was no adequate detour for traffic once motorists arrived at the state line.

It isn’t restored to normal, but it is passable, according to Suhr.

“The main thing is we are able to get some type of mobility restored from U-S 34 south to the Missouri line,” he says.

Iowa 2 from I-29 to Nebraska City remains closed due to flood damage.

Suhr says a number of contractors are making repairs throughout southwest Iowa, heavily damaged by Missouri River flooding.

Suhr says IDOT hopes to complete emergency highway repairs at the end of this month.

“Hopefully between now and Memorial Day weekend we will have everything opened up to some type of mobility.”

 

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A surprise, and a pleasant one for northwest Missouri travelers, as the Missouri Department of Transportation re-opened Interstate 29 this morning after Iowa made sufficient repairs to allow for traffic there much earlier than expected.

Earlier projections pegged the re-opening closer to the Memorial Day weekend.

Missouri Department of Transportation Assistant Maintenance and Traffic Engineer Jennifer Sardigal says Iowa moved quicker than expected to make I-29 functional again.

“I-29 did re-open about 10 o’clock this morning,” Sardigal tells St. Joseph Post. “Iowa got their roadway open to head-to-head traffic on I-29. They did not open (Highway) 2, but they are open at (Highway) 34, so they are allowing traffic into Iowa. So we, as promised, followed along and opened I-29 so that everybody can get from St. Joe to Iowa.”

Missouri River flooding overflowed and heavily damaged I-29 in southwest Iowa, forcing the Iowa Department of Transportation to close the interstate south of the Council Bluffs/Omaha metro area. That action has a ripple effect, causing MoDOT to close the interstate to traffic just north of St. Joseph at Highway 71.

Four-lane interstate traffic will be squeezed into two lanes over a portion of I-29 in southwest Iowa while further repairs are being made. Wide loads will not be permitted to travel that intersection and will have to find an alternative route.

Sardigal acknowledges the re-opening came sooner than expected.

“It’s been in the works for a few days,” according to Sardigal. “They (IDOT) gave out a contract deadline of Memorial Day, but the contractor was able to get done sooner. So, as soon as the contractor was able to, we opened the road.”

The closing snarled traffic throughout the region, especially in eastern Kansas as trucks and cars traveled west across Highway 36 to take Route 75 or 77 into Nebraska. I-29 carries about 12,000 cars and trucks daily through northwest Missouri.

MoDOT had directed northbound traffic to take I-35 to I-80 in Iowa, then across to I-29. Highway 71 north of St. Joseph also served as an alternative route, but truck drivers and motorists appeared to prefer traveling Highway 36 into Kansas, then north on Route 75 to Nebraska, taking either Highway 2 into Lincoln or continuing on 75 to Omaha.

Though I-29 has re-opened, Highway 2 into Nebraska City remains closed.

Sardigal says MoDOT closed I-29 just north of St. Joseph at Highway 71 as the best alternative under the circumstances.

“We didn’t want to drop a bunch of traffic onto low-volume routes for safety reasons and we didn’t want to drop off a bunch of traffic into Iowa when they had nowhere to go.”

But, now, they do.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. – Interstate 29 reopened Wednesday to all traffic between Exit 56 and the Iowa state line.

The roadway has been closed since late March because of flooding.

According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, while floodwaters had receded and debris was cleared from the Missouri portion of I-29, Iowa had significant damage to I-29 and the routes that extend east and west from I-29 in western Iowa.

The closure in Missouri continued, with the exception of local traffic accessing their homes and businesses, until the Iowa Department of Transportation was able to reopen their section of I-29 Wednesday morning. Approximately eight miles north of the Missouri border, traffic moves head-to-head and a 12-foot width restriction in place. MoDOT says motorists should expect delays. Over-dimension loads must use an alternate route.

More than 12,000 vehicles utilize I-29 through Northwest Missouri daily to access locations in Iowa and points north. Due to the lack of detour routes in Northwest Missouri that could handle that many cars, trucks and heavy commercial vehicles, all through traffic was rerouted onto I-35 or U.S. Route 71.

Many other routes throughout the region remain flooded, both in Missouri and Iowa, according to a MoDOT news release. Travelers do not have access to several roads west of I-29 in Atchison and Holt counties due to flooding and damage. These include U.S. Routes 159 and 136, commonly referred to as the Rulo and Brownville Missouri River Crossings, which are heavily damaged and remain closed. While repairs have begun on U.S. Route 159, water remains over the road in many areas, including U.S. Route 136. This continued flooding, combined with changing weather conditions, could delay recovery and repair efforts.

For updated information regarding route restoration and flooding, visit the Northwest Missouri Flooding webpage at https://www.modot.org/2019-northwest-missouri-flooding. The website provides an interactive map on flooded and damaged roadways in Missouri, links to neighboring states’ information, condition and restoration photographs and several other resources.

For more information about these closures, visit modot.org, or call 1-888-ASK-MODOT (1-888-275-6636).

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Some farmers in northwest Missouri face the very real possibility of not planting a crop this year due to the flood.

Congressman Sam Graves, who lives near Tarkio, says he has heard from many farmers who still have fields under water and no prospect of getting a crop in the ground this year.

“You have no income. There will be no income for folks that are farming along the river,” Graves tells Barry Birr, host of the KFEQ Hotline. “They can’t put a crop in. So, okay, you erase a year’s worth of income. What do you do? You want to talk about stress and frustration, that’s what you hear.”

The prospect of no crop and, thus, no income this year grows more realistic as rain comes down and floodwaters fail to recede. Fields ruined by the flood are not likely to drain and dry out in time for planting.

Graves says older farmers likely have banked enough savings to survive the year.

“But, a lot of younger farmers, they aren’t in that position and the fact of the matter is the machinery payments continue, the farm payments continue, the house payment continues regardless of whether or not you have income or not and that puts people in a real bind when you’re dealing with that, so yeah, it could put people under,” according to Graves.

A disaster aid package continues to work its way through Congress. Whether it will be enough to offset the losses from this year’s flood remains to be seen. Graves does note that the package likely will contain some money to compensate for the loss of stored grain, ruined when floodwaters surrounded, then collapsed grain bins in Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa.

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

I-29 north of St. Joseph remains closed and likely will remain closed for quite some time.

Missouri Department of Transportation Area Engineer Adam Watson says Missouri closed the interstate at Highway 71, because there was nowhere for the heavy traffic I-29 carries to go once it reached the state line. Watson says Iowa transportation officials are working hard to repair the damage done by floodwaters.

“They were anticipating that by Memorial Day or quicker they would be able to open up I-29 into Iowa in which case we would open up I-29 completely, because there would be somewhere to go through to,” Watson tells St. Joseph Post.

Missouri is working to repair damage leading to the two bridges across the Missouri River into Nebraska. Watson says if Iowa cannot get repairs to I-29 done as quickly as they hope, those bridges into Nebraska would allow Missouri to re-open at least a portion of the interstate.

I-29 carries approximately 12,000 cars and trucks daily, with an emphasis on trucks. Heavy semi tractor-trailers use I-29 as their primary north-south route in the Midwest. With I-29 closed in northwest Missouri and southeast Iowa, those trucks have been diverted to other highways.

MoDOT advises travelers wishing to go north to use I-35 to I-80, back across to I-29 or at least take U.S. Highway 71 just north of St. Joseph. MoDOT has closed I-29 at the Highway 71 intersection.

But, truck drivers have taken a number of different routes and large trucks hauling rock and other material used to repair flood-damaged roads are traveling throughout northwest Missouri as well as northeast Kansas.

Watson gives a short answer to the question of whether MoDOT worries diverted interstate traffic is damaging other roadways.

“We’re not worried about it. We know that it is.”

Watson says it is hard to quantify how much damage has been done to other roads by traffic normally traveling I-29.

“We’ve already seen routes that we were intending to do a preventative maintenance treatment on, something to seal cracks to keep it going for a couple more years before we do a more serious rehabilitation,” Watson says. “We’ve already seen roads where we’ve said, yeah, that preventative maintenance treatment is not even an option any more, we are well into rehabilitation or rebuilding parts of these roads.”

Watson says Iowa transportation officials hope to repair I-29 in time for Memorial Day weekend traffic.

MoDOT maintains a website on the flood damage in northwest Missouri, you can access it by clicking here.

 

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

Emergency contracts have been let by the Missouri Department of Transportation in an effort to get traffic moving from northwest Missouri into Nebraska once again.

MoDOT Area Engineer Adam Watson says three contracts are being issued to repair flood damage which closed the Rulo bridge to traffic at Route 159 and the Brownville bridge at Route 136.

Watson emphasizes these contracts will make emergency, not permanent repairs.

“We’re not making it perfect by any means,” Watson tells St. Joseph Post. “The shoulders will still need more work. There will be more ditching and drainage work that’s going to be required. There’s going to be paving work that is going to be required. None of that is involved in these contracts. These contracts are, what do I have to do to make the road safe for cars to travel over it?”

Missouri River flooding overflowed homes, communities, and farmland in northwest Missouri. It also did great damage to roads and bridges, forcing MoDOT to close Interstate 29 to traffic just north of St. Joseph. Flooding destroyed I-29 pavement just across the state line in Iowa, disrupting the traffic flow north to Omaha, forcing 12,000 cars and trucks to find alternative routes north.

Re-opening the routes to Nebraska could allow I-29 to re-open farther north if repairs in Iowa drag on.

The flood did not damage either the Rulo or the Brownville bridge. It did, however, tear up pavement on the Missouri side, leading to the bridges.

MoDOT hopes to re-open the Rulo bridge by the first of June and the Brownville bridge by July first.

Phillips Hardy was awarded a $3 ½ million contract to remove debris and make emergency repairs to the pavement on US Route 159 in Holt County from a mile east of Route P near Fortescue to the Missouri River Bridge. The projected completion date is on or before June 1^st.

Phillips Hardy also won another $3 ½ million emergency contract to repair damaged pavement on US Route 136 in Atchison County from I-29 to the Missouri River Bridge at Brownville, Nebraska.

Repairs on 136 will take longer.

Floodwaters destroyed a bridge between I-29 and the Brownville bridge. Watson says there will have to be a detour around that smaller bridge over the Little Tarkio Creek.

“Right now, I think we’re looking at (Routes) 111 and 118 to get cars around that damaged bridge,” Watson says. “I think 111 still has water over parts of it today. So, that’s going to be a process for us.”

A third contract let to Phillips Hardy for approximately $1.2 million will repair the Little Tarkio Creek bridge with a completion date around the middle of July.

Watson describes the damage to that bridge as severe.

“The pictures show it sagging and concrete shouldn’t sag,” Watson says. “So, it was pretty telling.”

For more on the flood damage to northwest Missouri roads and bridges, click here for the special MoDOT web page.

 

 

By BRENT MARTIN

St. Joseph Post

A deadline looms as negotiators from the Missouri Senate and House sit down to iron out differences in the two chambers’ approaches to the $30 billion state budget.

Sen. Dan Hegeman of Cosby chairs the Senate Appropriations Committee and says a rebound in state revenue should help negotiations.

State revenues are 2% ahead of last year, a huge turnaround from when money flowing into the state coffers plummeted 18% below the previous year.

Hegeman says his committee recommends fully funding the formula for public schools, providing an increase to the core higher education budget, and even spending money on early childhood education.

“One of the bigger things, though, is the governor’s recommendation that we invest in infrastructure needs as well as workforce development,” Hegeman tells St. Joseph Post. “And we are really pleased we were able to go with much of the governor’s recommendation on that.”

Gov. Mike Parson recommended issuing $351 million in bonds to repair 250 deteriorating bridges throughout Missouri. It has met with resistance in the legislature.

The governor’s bonding proposal will likely be the main sticking point between Senate and House budget negotiators. The House has resisted the governor’s call to issue infrastructure bonds. The Senate proposes spending $50 million in General Funds upfront, then borrowing $301 million to be paid back over seven years. The governor had proposed 15-year bonds.

Hegeman is hopeful the $50 million upfront and the shorter payoff period, which should save $75 million in interest, will entice the House to agree to the infrastructure package.

“Still do the bulk of the 250 bridges with both of those efforts and that will free up money on the state transportation plan for new projects to come on,” Hegeman says.

Hegeman expects disagreement as negotiators from the two chambers sit down for talks this week at the Capitol.

“We’ve certainly got some areas for consideration and discussion,” according to Hegeman. “Now, the transportation package will be one of them. The package for higher education will be another. Ours is vastly different than what the governor and the House came up with as well. So, those will be a couple of areas that we’ll have discussions on.”

Negotiators meet under a strict deadline. They must agree to a compromise, which will go to both the Senate and the House for passage. The General Assembly must pass a budget and send it to Gov. Parson by adjournment Friday.