MoDOT begins work on $40 million Highway MM project

Construction has begun on the realignment of Highway MM where it meets Highway 60 in Republic as of the week of Feb. 26. To make known the road closures and slated improvements, MoDOT held a meeting at Republic’s new city council chambers.
 
The meeting was led by project leads who showed citizens exactly where and how the realignment will take place, and what those improvements will do for traffic in the area.
 
The meeting was a come-and-go style event with no presentation given; instead, attendees were allowed to peruse a number of maps throughout the room with MoDOT representatives available at multiple stops to explain the work.
 
As was explained at the meeting, the realignment of Highway MM has been in the works for a while, according to Bud Sherman, transportation project manager at MoDOT.
 
Sherman said that the realignment was necessary and a long time coming, because of the danger present at the current intersection, stating there have been five recorded fatalities. Safety was the biggest concern.
 
“I mean over the last 10 years we’ve had probably at least five fatalities; one’s too many,” said Sherman.
 
 
MM realignment
In realigning the roadway, MoDOT will undertake work on multiple miles of highway, not just the intersection.
 
The work will consist of multiple phases, over which MoDOT will build a new stretch of roadway between Farm Road 160 and U.S. Highway 60, widen MM to four lanes between Farm Road 160 and Haile Street, build a roundabout at Farm Road 160, raise the concrete median from Highway 60 to Haile Street, build a bridge over BNSF railroad south of Haile Street and build a pedestrian trail along the eastern side of MM, among other works.
 
In the end, MoDOT will have built a completely new stretch of road, constructing a bridge over the railroad tracks and connecting to Highway 60 at a different point.
 
 
Inconveniences for some time
Though the realignment is deemed necessary from a safety perspective, citizens may have to endure some inconveniences in order for work to come to fruition. Among these are the road closures at MM and U.S. Highway 60, lane closures on Highway 60 and railroad crossing closures at multiple spots along MM and Highway 60. The last of these may be more than an inconvenience though according to the fire chief of neighboring Brookline, James Kilburn who was also present at the meeting.
 
Kilburn said that the railroad closures will make it more difficult for his team to deploy on mutual aid calls from station one to communities such as Bois D’Arc, though this was disputed by Brad Gripka, resident engineer at MoDOT’s Springfield office. Gripka stated that the response time will only be negatively impacted by about 30 seconds.
 
It was stated at the meeting that the estimated construction cost is approximately $40 million dollars though this conflicts with previous statements regarding the price with an earlier release citing the expected cost at $22.7 million.
 
The work is to be done in phases according to Gripka. He said that in the coming weeks, work will begin around the school, moving on to the rebuild of MM in the summer.
 
The project is expected to be complete by May of 2028.