July 7, 2009

Gov. Nixon signs HB 359 to make state highway construction contracts more effective and efficient

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Gov. Jay Nixon today signed House Bill 359 into law, allowing two percent of the State Transportation Improvement Project list (STIP) to be designated as "design-build." This new law will make the process of contracting highway projects quicker and more efficient, as the designation allows the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission to combine the design and construction contracts.

"Allowing the highway commission more design-build contracts will improve our government's efficiency and effectiveness," Gov. Nixon said. "By combining these steps, we save time and money, and we will be able to improve Missouri's highways more quickly."

Current law allows only three projects to be designated as design-build. Those three projects are already underway: the Highway 40/Interstate 64 reconstruction in St. Louis; the Paseo Bridge project in Kansas City; and the 802-bridge "Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement" program statewide. The design-build concept has been instrumental in the large-scale Highway 40/Interstate 64 project in St. Louis, which is running ahead of schedule.

"The Highway Commission has worked tirelessly in recent years to more efficiently and effectively use our funding to improve Missouri's transportation infrastructure," said Mike Kehoe, Chair of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. "This legislation authorizing the limited use of design-build projects will give our state yet another tool in our transportation toolbox to improve our state's roads and bridges."

In addition to the new two percent limit, House Bill 359 also specifically allows three more projects to be designated as design-build. Those three projects are: the Missouri Route 364/Page Avenue extension in St. Louis County; the State Highway 169 and 96th Street intersection improvement in Kansas City; and the State Highway 92 to Highway E improvement in Smithville.

The two percent maximum refers to two percent of the total number of STIP list projects, not a monetary or budgetary figure. Thus, if the STIP list contains 100 projects, the highway commission may designate two as design-build. Additionally, a project may include construction or renovation at more than one physical location, as is the case with the statewide "Safe and Sound Bridge Improvement" program.

According to MoDOT, the design-build bill will enable Missouri to compete for a share of the $1.5 billion in available Recovery Act TIGER Grants. The bill also increases the dollar amount of design-build performance and payment bond requirements to allow amounts to be set "at largest amount reasonably available," and increases surety requirements.

In addition to House Bill 359, the following bills were signed into law today without ceremony by Gov. Nixon, with the subject matter listed: