Congressman Roy Blunt waves a section of ribbon that he had cut during a ceremony dedicating the opening of Route 249 in Jasper County on October 6, 2008. To his right, from L-R, are Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce Director Rob O'Brian and Missouri Senator Gary Nodler, assistant majority floor leader and chairman of the transportation committee.
One attribute one has to credit Senator Gary Nodler (R-32) for is his often outspoken honesty. It snuck out yesterday during the brief speech he gave at the dedication and opening of Route 249, the 6.2 miles of 4-lane highway between I-44 and Route 171 that many, perhaps, without foresight, have labeled "the road to nowhere."
Addressing the large audience that had assembled under a tent on private property overlooking the highway, Nodler, in referencing the highway project as well as others in the local area, said that he knew that "earmarks were not politically correct," but he wanted to thank Congressman Roy Blunt, seated nearby, anyway. His request of Blunt was to "send more."
The Missouri Department of Transportation has admitted to a cost of $78 million for construction that began in 1993; an extra million had to be allocated for shoring up a collapsed embankment. The expense includes the construction of four interchanges (Route 171, Zora Avenue, Newman Road and Route 66) and 16 bridges with the tallest being 75 feet and the longest 1,500 feet (the length of five football fields).
The biggest obstacle cited was dealing with construction over old mine shafts: 9,108 cubic yards of grout was needed to fill the mine shafts they found, 58,710 feet of drilling was needed for ground stabilization together with utilizing two miles of steel foundation bars.
Joplin's $$$ share
When asked how much the city of Joplin contributed for the initial section of highway Mayor Gary Shaw said $3-5 million, but he really didn't know. He said ask Dick Largent. Largent, who is Joplin's current planning and community development manager, said he thought the figure through the years was at $7 1/2 million and included funding from the EPA, but go ask Harold McCoy. McCoy had been the director of public works when in 1987 he pushed for construction of a highway that would serve an area in Jasper County that the city had hoped to annex. But to Joplin's dismay, subsequent annexation attempts failed twice. Someone in the know suggested that the money came from funds returned after the Texas junk bond investment debacle. That figure was about $12 million.
Other speakers
After opening remarks Becky Baltz, district engineer from MoDot's Southwest District, introduced the three speakers who, besides Nodler, were Brad Belk, executive director of the Joplin Museum Complex, Rob O'Brian, president of the Joplin Area Chamber of Commerce and Blunt, House Republican whip.
Civic leaders, elected officials, project supervisors and the community that likes to be a part of history in the making came out to the Route 249 dedication. At the podium is Brad Belk, the area's consummate historian.
Always interesting to history buffs, Belk presented a short treatise on the subject of transportation starting with the development of the Model T, the inter-urban trolley system to service the influx of the area's mining personnel and its demise, and then how highway development had to catch up with the sales of affordable passenger cars.
Belk's comment that through the years people wanted to "move faster" and "arrive earlier" were in keeping with MoDot's brag that Route 249 will decrease travel time 5 to 10 minutes...although MoDot offered no stipulation regarding from where to where.
Traffic can be seen merging onto Highway 249 from the east side of Highway 171. Engineers decided to make the interchange one-lane as it allows for traffic to continue east on Route 171 or for access to the new highway.
The approaching auto has 500 feet in which to merge from the left lane in order to exit right across traffic at HH Highway. Several onlookers seem to think this was a safety issue and that a second lane was needed.
O'Brian opened his remarks with a tribute to those who, he said, had the "vision" for 249, among them Mel Walbridge who heads the transportation committee for the chamber. While annexation wasn't mentioned as the project's impetus, O'Brian cited the need to "take truck traffic off of Range Line Road," making the route "safer for shoppers."
Besides calling attention to the jobs that were created by the project, O'Brian reiterated MoDot's savings in time. He considered saving 5-10 minutes a day, or 30 hours a year on average, a "real economic impact."
Speaking to the gathered mayors and other officials from communities in Jasper and Newton counties, O'Brian foresaw an opportunity for growth in the multi-city area. 1,000 acres of mined land abutting the roadway could be reclaimed.
Understanding this potential for growth, Webb City will be allocating funds, he said, to construct a fourth access to the highway. MoDot apparently had deemed the access to Webb City's industrial park unfeasible during the highway's planning stage.
Blunt, when he wasn't telling his golf course/monkey story about how monkeys either stole the balls or tossed them around as an allegory for what was happening in Washington--ie. we have to "play ball where the monkey throws it"--he was addressing the economic opportunities surrounding highway intersections and in this case the opportunity to reclaim the mining areas.
He spoke of safety in travel and the time factor and concluded with a God bless America speech that called attention to "how many things Americans can do when Americans get together."
What happened next
With black and white "249" banners waving from their cars, drivers formed behind Blunt's SUV and a vehicle driven by the highway patrol to create a short procession that took them over a stretch of highway 249 from Zora to the 171 interchange. Blunt's driver was supposed to drive through a banner held by two highway workers but a gust of wind had ripped it beforehand, making the ritual less than dramatic.
Go Back | 
