Heads up, night owls and early birds who navigate the asphalt veins of Phelps County: your nocturnal commutes along the westbound Interstate 44 are due for a bit of a shuffle. As part of an initiative to improve roadway safety, MoDOT is rolling out a high friction surface treatment starting next Tuesday, designed to help decrease the chances of vehicular slip-and-slide incidents. Folks from Truesdell Corporation will be manning the helm of this nighttime operation, which is expected to last until the calendar flips to April 30.
For those of you wondering about the specifics: the work is scheduled during the witching hours, when the moon claims the sky—between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., from Monday through Friday. The road will stay open, but only as a single lane in specific stretches for all you late-night cruisers. MoDOT has put out the playbook on this, so you can check their Forward 44 website for any game-time decisions or curveballs thrown by Mother Nature.
It's a slice from a broader pie, this project. I-44 is under the microscope, as MoDOT fine-tunes its formula for a smoother ride and safer travels along the whole corridor. Updates on this and other projects carving their way through I-44 can be scoped out at the same Forward 44 site, because forewarned is forearmed, especially when planning your nocturnal jaunts.
MoDOT's taking this chance to drop a not-so-subtle nudge: gear up for a safer journey. "MoDOT asks all motorists to work with us by buckling up, putting your phone down, obeying all traffic signs, and slowing down and moving over in work zones," they say, reminding everyone that sharing the road with a side of caution isn't just polite—it's literal lifesaving etiquette. Good luck out there, and keep an keen eye on those detour signs and orange vested sentinels of progress.
