Union Expressway dead | Local News

But cost increases on the project, as well as delays caused by difficulties in obtaining land to build the highway, led the Union Board of Aldermen to vote to end the project at a special meeting Monday night.

Monday’s decision also takes into account Missouri Department of Transportation plans to spend $85.7 million on safety and capacity improvements on the 12.7-mile stretch of Highway 47 between Washington and St. Clair. Local officials hope those plans, originally announced in 2022, will include expanding the highway to four lanes from its intersection with Highway 100 in Washington to Interstate 44 in St. Clair.

Union City Manager Jonathan Zimmerman noted Monday that there were no such plans for Highway 47 at the time the Union Expressway was being planned.

“In fact, I believe it was the long-term plan 2040 and 2042, where it was really not listed in the plan, but in the illustration, which means that all projects fail if they are not funded,” he said. “So we were looking for ways to do something at that time, and that’s how the expressway came about.”

The original cost of the Union Expressway was about $12 million, with the city and county each having to raise about $2 million and $8 million from federal funds administered by the East-West Gateway Council of Governments. However, in January 2023, the total estimated cost increased to $14.67 million. Because the city and county shared costs above the original estimate, this meant that Union and Franklin County each had to pay an additional $2.2 million, although the county agreed to cover the city’s cost overruns with funds from the American Rescue Plan Act cover up.

Now the city has made “market-based” offers for all the land needed for the expressway, Zimmermann added. In a process that lasted more than a year, Union was unable to close on four of the land plots.

“Two of the packages didn’t respond at all,” he said.

That put the city in a position to expect a conviction or eminent domain, Zimmermann said. But that could cost millions more.

“If we proceed with condemnation, we may face significant additional costs that could equal or exceed the contract costs we paid,” he said.

MoDOT asked Union to make or reject a decision by Tuesday, so the special meeting was called, Zimmerman said.

District 2 Councilman Russell Rost, who was Union’s city manager when the expressway was first approved, made the motion to withdraw from the project and stop applying for the federal grant.

“This was a viable project, COVID came and the subsequent inflation was a significant increase,” Rost said. “I cannot in good conscience imagine going to the taxpayers of the city of Union again and asking them to provide more money for a state and federal highway project. It improves state and federal highways even though it would be a city road. So since I started it, I’m going to make a motion to end it – that we walk away from this project.”

The situation is “unfortunate,” Rost added, especially since MoDOT doesn’t plan to begin improvements to Highway 47 until 2027 and East-West Gateway won’t allow the city to delay Union Expressway any longer. “I wish all that money could have been brought together for a project to do all the improvements on Highway 47, that $8 or $12 million, with our contribution, that would have made a significant improvement,” he said.

Councilors then voted 7-0 to end the project, leaving the other District 2 seat vacant as the city awaits a special election to resolve the tie between Bill Isgriggs and Barbara Laberer.

“Right now, officially there is no longer a freeway,” said Mayor Bob Schmuke. “It was a difficult decision, but I think you made the right decision.”

While he has criticized the city in the past for taking so long to acquire land for the highway, Franklin County Commissioner Chairman Tim Brinker expressed support for the city’s decision when speaking after the Vote turned to the city councilors.

“Hats off to you for working with us to come from nothing to a viable solution that was not funded at the time by the property owner, i.e. the state,” he said. “This project was due to MoDOT not having the resources to repair its highway. The construction, repair and maintenance of the state’s highways are actually the responsibility of the Department of Defense, not the county or city.”

The fact that MoDOT had committed funds for improvements to Highway 47 and that the city of Union was responsible for maintaining the Union Expressway were some reasons for abandoning the project, according to Brinker.

“Combined with the acquisition of the property, this could potentially be in the tens of millions, if you will,” he said. “We just don’t know and I don’t think it’s a smart move.”

Brinker also plans to discuss a possible “better solution” with the Washington Area Highway Transportation Committee using money allocated for the highway.

“This way we’re not talking about how many lanes there are on the bridge and how wide the shoulders need to be, we’re just doing it and doing it right,” he said. “I think ultimately we’ll come to a better solution overall for those we represent.”

At Tuesday’s county commission meeting, Brinker said he recommended the county also move away from Union Expressway. A corresponding order will be voted on at one of the next meetings.

In addition to concerns about costs and land acquisition, the expressway was even excluded from Union’s 10-year update of its comprehensive plan in 2022 by consultant H3 Studio, despite having been discussed for years. The plan recommended a bypass connecting the north and south portions of Highway 47 south of Highway 50, instead of the Union Expressway plan, which would pass through flood plains northeast of Highway 50.

A MoDOT spokeswoman said Tuesday that the agency could not comment because it had not been formally informed of the city’s decision.