The Missouri Department of Transportation is inviting the public to join the discussion on priority unfunded transportation needs in their areas.

Missouri- transportation system includes 33,808 miles of roads and 10,424 bridges, making it one of the largest for any state in the nation. MoDOT, working with its regional planning partners, has outlined a draft High Priority Unfunded Needs listing, which identifies $1.1 billion in annual unfunded transportation needs for the system. The list was created to guide the development of needs into funded projects as state and federal transportation funds become available in future years.

The public is invited to review the list and provide feedback on the order of priorities that could be funded in the future. A meeting to discuss the draft updated High Priority Unfunded Needs list for transportation in the Northwest Missouri will be held from 1 to 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 8, at the Maryville Public Safety Office, 101 N. Vine St. The presentation materials and a comment form are also available online at https://www.modot.org/unfundedneeds.

MoDOT staff have worked with metropolitan planning organizations and regional planning commissions throughout the state to develop a list of high priority unfunded road and bridge needs. The draft lists include $4.7 billion in road and bridge needs in three tiers. Tier 1 includes $552 million and includes needs that could be accomplished in the time of the current five-year Statewide Transportation Improvement Program (STIP) as federal and state funding levels increase. These needs have good estimates. Tier 2 is worth $2.1 billion and includes needs beyond the current STIP timeframe. Tier 3 includes $2 billion of needs also beyond the current STIP timeframe with broader estimates. worked with planning partners to identify $1 billion in multimodal needs.