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A $3.7 million dollar project by MoDOT is almost complete in Southern Stone County.
The project to add shoulders and rumble strip on Missouri 86 and Missouri 13 from Blue Eye to U.S. 65 near Ridgedale is aimed at keeping people in their lanes to help reduce the number of head on crashes and cars drifting off the sides of the road.
"On the more rural area roads that carry a lot of traffic, when we can, we are putting in two foot shoulders. It is a safety treatment we wanted to do out there, and the shoulders are only two feet, so they won’t accompany the width of a car," said MoDOT spokeswoman Angela Eden.
"The rumble strips are to basically keep vehicles in their driving lanes. What we have found is a large amount of traffic crashes are when people run of the side of the road and overcorrect. This is a very important safety feature for drivers."
Eden says glass beads that have been ground into the surface of the rumble strip and striping along the edges of roadways will make visibility better for night time driving.
"The rumble strips are to basically keep vehicles in their driving lanes. What we have found is a large amount of traffic crashes are when people run of the side of the road and overcorrect. This is a very important safety feature for drivers."
Eden says glass beads that have been ground into the surface of the rumble strip and striping along the edges of roadways will make visibility better for night time driving.
Not all areas on the curvy, windy road will be receiving new shoulders, according to Eden. "Shoulders are being added where terrain allows," she said. "We put them in as best we could, but it’s not continuous. We fit them in where we could. We also put the rumble strips on the edge line."
"Traffic backups can be a concern, especially here in the Ozarks with hills and curves and we always try to make our work zones as safe as they can be."
Some business owners affected by the road work, which is scheduled for completion on November 1st, say they weren't notified of the project and have lost money because of it. Eden said MoDOT makes every effort to get the word out about an upcoming project through the media and large message boards that are put up in areas about two weeks prior to a project starting.
"Traffic backups can be a concern, especially here in the Ozarks with hills and curves and we always try to make our work zones as safe as they can be."
Some business owners affected by the road work, which is scheduled for completion on November 1st, say they weren't notified of the project and have lost money because of it. Eden said MoDOT makes every effort to get the word out about an upcoming project through the media and large message boards that are put up in areas about two weeks prior to a project starting.
“We try to minimize the inconveniences to drivers as much as we can,” Eden said. “We have to take advantage of the weather so we can put down a good product. We really stress to our contractors that we don’t want delays and to inconvenience folks, but when traffic is backing up beyond what is reasonable and safe, they get off the road and let traffic flow."
A similar project is also nearing completion along Missouri 76 from Cape Fair to Reeds Spring. That project calls for the resurfacing of the roadway. Once the resurfacing is complete, the rumble strips and edge lines will be added, according to Eden
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