Missouri’s highway system is about receive a serious shot in the arm, thanks to an amendment that will keep nearly $3 billion dedicated to the state’s road construction.

Officials with the Missouri Department of Transportation are finalizing a list of projects that will use money from Amendment 3. The amendment, which voters OK’d in November 2004, keeps vehicle sales tax revenue and highway user fees earmarked for road construction, and calls for an additional $1.3 billion in bond money, according to The Kansas City Star.

The department is currently narrowing its list of proposed projects. The final proposal is scheduled to be sent to the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission by May, which will then begin a 45-day public comment period. All construction in the project is set to begin by 2009, according to the Springfield News-Leader.

Although not finalized, several news sources have said MoDOT’s list will most likely include the following improvements:

• $253 million for large road projects in Kansas City, including the widening of I-29/I-35 north and south of the Paseo Bridge to six lanes and the bridge itself to eight lanes; widening Choteau Trafficway to four lanes from I-35 to Highway 210; and repair to highways 150 and 45, according to The Star;
• $476 million in St. Louis for four-lane expansion of U.S. 61, which will help to complete the long-awaited Avenue of the Saints project two years earlier than expected, according to the Memphis Democrat;
• $61 million in improvements for the Springfield area, including large portions of the I-60 in the southeast part of the city;
• The remaining $629 million would improve rural areas, including $200 million to build a 20-mile stretch of interstate from Bella Vista, AR, to Pineville, connecting with I-540 near the Arkansas border, according to The Joplin Globe.