MoDOT seeks public input through online survey

Missouri has more road projects underway at any particular time you'd care to name and now drivers have a place to comment directly to the Missouri Department of Transportation how they feel the department is doing their job on their Web site at: http://www.modot.org/workzones/Comments.htm.

Wendy Brunner-Lewis, media contact for MoDOT, said more than 70 people have commented on the site since the page was added.

"The 70 comments are from people all over the state," Brunner-Lewis said, noting that MoDOT has many projects going on in all areas including the Southwest District, which includes Nevada.

"We have three or four projects on I-44 near here right now," Brunner-Lewis said. "It ranges from 15 to 30 projects going on at any one time here in an 11-county district."

Brunner-Lewis didn't have information on what the surveys revealed but Sandy Hutchins, MoDOT headquarters, did.

"It's mostly positive, we really haven't had any major gripes," Hutchins said. "I'd say that over all the main issue would be delays."

Hutchins said the survey was meant to help MoDOT prioritize issues that need to be resolved, since delays were the main issue, that's where MoDOT would concentrate.

"That's why we're doing this to minimize delays," Hutchins said. "We can't eliminate them, there are times when lanes are shut down and we can't do anything about that but we do everything we can."

Hutchins encouraged motorists to go to the department's Web site and leave comments.

"Really that's the only way we have of knowing what's on people's minds, when they talk to us," Hutchins said.

The online survey asks some specifics, what road or highway were you on when you encountered the work zone, when you were there, and optionally, your name.

Then the survey concentrates on your trip through the work zone: Were the signs or traffic signals easy to understand? Was the posted speed limit appropriate for the work zone activity? Did you make it through the work zone in a timely manner?

The survey also gives visitors to the Web site space to explain their answers more fully and leave additional comments.

On the Web: http://www.modot.org/workzones/Comments.htm.