HERMANN – Gasconade County’s list of needed transportation improvements for 2027 looks a lot like it did a year ago with the same top-priority items being recommended for inclusion in the new version of Missouri’s 5-year Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP).

At the top of the list, which was assembled Thursday morning during a meeting of the Gasconade County Commission and representatives of Meramec Regional Planning Commission, the Missouri Department of Transportation and representatives of Hermann, Owensville and Morrison, is a proposal to raise portions of Highway 100 out of flood water in two areas of Hermann.

One of the locations is on Highway 100 East near the city limits near the bluffs that is subject to Missouri River flooding; the other is on Highway 100 West near the Hermann Fire Company station that can be covered when Frene Creek leaves its banks.

Considered together as a single item, the Highway 100 projects are joined on the list by a new bridge over Bailey Creek on Highway 100 in Morrison, improvements to a bridge over the Bourbeuse River; another two-front project involving a widening of Highway 19 from Highway 28 to the Owensville Industrial Park and overall improvements to Highway 19 from Interstate 44 to Interstate 70 that would be needed as a result of increased traffic generated by the industrial megasite being developed in Montgomery County; improvements to the bridge over Red Oak Creek on Highway 19; and continued paving of all approaches of Gasconade County roads connecting to a state highway.

Regarding the last item, Southern District Associate Commissioner Ron Hardecke, R-Owensville, noted that several approaches have been paved, which improves safety for a grader operator maintaining the road as he approaches the intersection. Having a paved approach – or “apron” as its referred to – also prevents potholes that develop when cars accelerate after leaving a county road and getting onto a state road.

“We got nine done this year,” Hardecke said.

“Maybe one of these days we’ll have all the county road approaches paved,” said MoDOT Regional Engineer Preston Kramer.

Taken off the list is a project that wasn’t a priority in past years, but one that was dealt with this year by the county and the state: Improving sight distance at the intersection of Highway T and Blue House Road south of Rosebud.

Remaining on the list, at least for another year, is a proposed improvement in the curve on Highway 100 West and Highway J, six miles west of Hermann. The concern at the sharp intersection is sight distance with motorists traveling west on 100 not being able to see eastbound vehicles that might be crossing the center line, especially at the intersection.

This was a priority item in past years, but reduced in priority last year with MoDOT installing tall directional signs alert motorists to the curve. Kramer noted that no vehicle crashes had been reported at the intersection in the past year and that county officials might want to remove it from the overall list of projects.

County Clerk Lesa Lietzow, who travels through that intersection almost daily, said the raised directional signs are a big improvement. She suggested the project remain on the list to allow the state to monitor the site for one more year to be confident of improved safety at the junction.

After years of trying to convince Gasconade County R-2 School District officials to support a widening of Highway 19 from the Industrial Park entry to the north city limits, a stretch of 19 that runs alongside the R-2 campus, local officials have reduced the priority of that project. It had been paired with the Highway 19 improvement from the intersection of Highway 28 to the Industrial Park. The project could be bumped up in priority in coming years if R-2 officials change their position and support the project.

The top half-dozen priority projects are among about three dozen various projects on the county’s overall list of needed transit improvements.

This list is one of eight such lists being crafted by the eight counties in the Meramec Region. In December, the Meramec Regional Planning Commission’s Transportation Advisory Committee (TAC) will meet to consider priority projects on all eight lists. Gasconade County’s TAC representatives Hermann City Administrator Patricia Heaney, Owensville City Administrator Randy Blaske and Hardecke will lobby their counterparts to include this county’s top projects in the list that will be recommended to the planning agency’s Board of Directors.

A final list of projects will be forwarded to MoDOT for recommendation to the Missouri Highways & Transportation Commission, which is expected to announce the 2027 version of the 5-year plan early next year.