(Typos courtesy Fox news)
CHESTERFIELD, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com) - In this You Paid For It report, a dramatic move by MoDOT to push forward with it's Route 141 extension through a neighborhood despite a desperate attempt by angry Chesterfield residents to derail it. MoDOT plans to redo the intersection of 141and Ladue Road as part of the 141 extension through West County.But residents say the MoDOT plan is too elaborate will create too much disruption to the neighborhood and cost taxpayers too much money. After being rebuffed by MoDOT St. Louis Area District Engineer Ed Hassinger, they've taken their cause to Hassinger's bosses: the Missouri Transportation Commission.
Chesterfield homeowner Emil Deluca is one of the trustees for the Green Trails subdivision which is fighting the plan. His group traveled all the way to a commission meeting last week in Sikeston, Missouri to tell commissioners they should over-rule Ed Hassinger.
Deluca says, "It was our last place to present our concerns to the Missouri Department of Transportation."Deluca says MoDOT did agree to made some minor modifications to it's proposal but no major changes. MoDOT is getting $95 million federal stimulus dollars for the Olive to Ladue Road section of the 141 extension.
Investigator Elliott Davis asked Deluca, "What do you think is the likelihood you'll be able to change the current MoDOT plan?"
Deluca answered, "Almost none, almost none. They've made up their mind that this project They're too afraid that if they try to make a change now they'd loose their stimulus money."
Back in August, Ed Hassinger made this comment about the neighborhood's concerns.
"We talked with the neighborhood. We understand their concerns but we're going to try to work with them as much as we can. But the fact of the matter is we're going to build and interchange there."
Meanwhile, there has been a new move by MoDOT to take the property it needs from the Green Trails subdivision. Deluca and other residents got a letter from MoDOT saying the agency was filing a class action condemnation suit to acquire that portion of the common ground needed for the project. That would clear the way for the agency to push on with its $95 million dollar plan.
"If you don't raise your concerns, nobody is going to ever pay any attention to us. And I think we surprised MoDOT because what they've been used to is people all over this state accept them as the defining authority. And then when they come up with a debacle like this people just weren't paying attention until it was just too late."
