Story behind 65 expansion worth telling, officials say
By Earl Stresak
Staff Writer
State, county and local officials will tell you the future Hollister–U.S. Hwy. 65 expansion project will alleviate the obvious–bumper to bumper traffic congestion. The driving force that got the project rolling into reality is also a story worth telling, officials say and there is no shortage of testimony.
“Road repairs on that stretch were scheduled for beyond 10 years from now,” Taney County Commissioner Don Swan said.
“It was a struggle,” Jay Waggoner, Missouri State Department of Transportation, District 8, transportation manager said. “But, it’s an example of what we can all do.”
“We fought so hard and so long, but that highway is crucial,” Hollister Assistant City Administrator Bonnie Fuqua-Mathiesen said.
The project that will elevate the highway some 10 feet, eliminate all traffic signals, add overpasses and add entrance and exit ramps along a stretch of Highway 65 from approximately Business Highway 65 north to Highway 165 south, came together using a mathematical formula not found in engineering textbooks. That formula could be expressed as inter-agency teamwork, plus brainstorming, equals a project placed on the drawing board instead of the proverbial wish list.
Known to locals and visitors alike as a frustrating stretch of road to drive during peak hours, traffic can quickly bottleneck and creep along at two traffic lights south of the Highway 65 Lake Taneycomo Bridge. Slow going is also experienced driving Business 65 crossing the highway toward College or the Ozarks or downtown Hollister. At times, not quite gridlock, but motorist’s tempers can flare and patience runs thin.
Work on the project will begin next July and the project should take about two years to complete. Waggoner said.
“That plan would never have gotten that accelerated if the city, county and state hadn’t gotten together on it,” Swan said of the original 10 year future repair plans. In addition to the highway work, a new bridge is planned for the one on Highway 65 now spanning Lake Taneycomo. Work on that will begin as soon as federal money for that project is released, Waggoner said.
The story began as many such highway improvement stories do with an even simpler formula — no money equals no project. The highway expansion project would have probably stayed marooned on that long illusive, future project wish list if not for the efforts of the City of Hollister, officials said.
Both Waggoner and Swan praised the city’s spearheading efforts to get ball rolling to raise money needed for the project, and in-particular the efforts of Hollister City Administrator Rick Ziegenfuss, who spent the last year and ahalf discussing the project.
Waggoner said his agency knew it was a project that needed to be done and wanted to do it, “but there wasn’t the money to do it.”
Using the principle of the squeaky wheel gets the grease, Hollister began looking for solutions to the problem. Approaching MoDot, they learned about a program called 50-50 Cost Sharing. As the name implies, the transportation agency shares project costs, matching an amount put up by a city.
Hollister could put up most of the money, but not, all. Again, Hollister searched for a solution to the problem.
“They approached us (Taney County) to help out,” Swan said. ” We decided to assist them and will contribute $1 million a year for three years, ” he said. Taney County will contribute $3 million total for the road expansion.
Hollister will pay $6 million of the cost. The total cost for the highway expansion will be “not quite $19 million,” Waggoner said. When federal money is released for the bridge project the total project will have a cost $32 million.
Currently, a question remains about when that federal money will become available, but Waggoner is confident the bridge will see completion sometime as the highway expansion is completed. “The bridge will get done,” he said. “We won’t leave a gap between Hollister and Branson.”
Expanding the highway to four lanes will involve engineering stages, Waggoner said. A portion of business 65 will be included, eliminating the traffic light at the intersection of Highway 65 and Business 65, and also two traffic lightsfurther south. New construction will take Business 65 over Highway 65, to College of the Ozarks, near the site of the schools new construction of a hotel, restaurant and exhibition hall.
Waggoner said the college is planning landscaping and design around that new construction that “Will be very attractive to those entering that area” Aesthetically, that area should be the visual “jewel in the crown,” he said.
Along Highway 65, the four lanes will continue to Highway 165, including some area heading back toward C of O.
Entrance and exit ramps will move traffic on both ends of Gauge Drive and Birch Drive. Motorists will also be able to enter from Industrial Park Dr. Other ramps will allow easy on and off access to SouthTowne Center businesses.
Emergency vehicles departing from Taney County Ambulance headquarters at Industrial Park Drive and Birch will have quicker and safer access to the highway for emergency runs.
That stretch of highway is “not really high accident,” Waggoner said, but emergency vehicles now can be bogged down in the areas bumper to bumper jams when traffic is backed up at the stop light.
“There is so much traffic now that it creates a big problem waiting to get onto the road,” Kevin Tweedy, Taney County operations manager said. “Big lines of traffic just sit there. When it’s moving it creates a problem for us getting into traffic.” Even with red lights and sirens going, “two or three cars moving toward us from the rear can see us and let us in, but the cars in back of them can’t. It creates a potential for rear-end collisions.”
Tweedy said the highway expansion will be welcomed by the emergency service.
Officials agree the new highway should benefit businesses in SouthTowne Center and along Highway 65 with another math equation not found in textbooks — easy on, easy off highway access equals more cash flow into local businesses.
With 28,000 motorists driving that stretch of highway daily, traffic jams discourage motorists from stopping to shop and spend money.
“They get frustrated in that traffic and don’t want to stop because they’d have to fight the traffic to get back on again,” he said. The expansion is going ” to really help SouthTowne Center and area businesses because of easier ingress and egress,” Swan said.
Mac Pace, assistant manager for Sherman Williams Paints located on Industrial Park Drive agrees.
“We are sort of tucked back in here,” he said of his off the highway location. “A lot people don’t know we are back here.” Less traffic congestion, easier access into South Park and Industrial Park Dr. would mean more visibility he said. “That highway is just so congested now, the new construction will help a lot.”
Officials estimate that 20 to 30 percent of visitors entering Branson and the surrounding area enter from that southerly route.
“Everyone benefits from that,” Swan said. “More revenue for the cities and the county means more benefits for everyone,” he said.
“It’s a win-win situation for everyone,” Waggoner said.
Despite all the successful efforts and partnering, Hollister has one last hoop to jump through. They need another $500,000 for their share of the project. They remain confident about that aspect. “We are aggressively looking for another partner,” Fuqua-Mattiesen said. The city has until next April to obtain the money.
Courtesy of Branson Daily Independent