JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KFVS) – The Missouri Department of Transportation named Ed Hassinger as its new director on Tuesday, and he said he’s ready to get to work on day one.

After a nationwide search, former MoDOT chief engineer and deputy director Ed Hassinger was picked from an applicant pool of 12 people to head up the department. Hassinger has been with MoDOT for 40 years. The MoDOT commission unanimously agreed on Hassinger.

On his first day in office, Hassinger said he wants to address the staffing shortage that’s plagued the department for years.

“The people that are on the ground doing the everyday work,” Hassinger said. “I call it the windshield issues, the things that people see when they’re driving down the road that we’re not quite getting to.”

The department has struggled since the pandemic to hire people to be plow drivers, construction workers and other similar jobs. MoDOT lost two million labor hours over the past decade because of this shortage. More state funds may be necessary to entice workers, but the state budget is expected to be tighter next fiscal year because of decreasing federal dollars coming into Missouri.

“The citizens expect that we’re going to do those things, their expectations are that their roadways look good, that they ride good, that we take care of those issues, but to do that we’re going to need more resources,” Hassinger said.

Hassinger said the recent pay raise for state workers has stopped the exodus of MoDOT workers. State workers received an 8.7% pay raise last year, and another 3.2% cost of living raise was added by the Missouri General Assembly. That raise has helped MoDOT fill over 1,000 open positions this year. Hassinger said the department is on track to fill all full time maintenance positions by July.

“Certainly pay has to be market competitive, and we have to watch that,” Hassinger said. “The same people that we’re trying to hire with CDLs everybody else is trying to hire too.”

Hassinger already has the chance to prove himself as director as MoDOT takes on some of its most ambitious projects.

This summer, construction started this summer on an extra lane for I-70 between Columbia and Kingdom City. The next part will be from Warrenton to Wentzville; a contractor and design team was awarded earlier this month and construction will start in the spring, according to MoDOT. The third part of the I-70 expansion will be from Blue Springs to Odessa; you can expect to see more on that in about one year.

Bids for Forward 44 should be opening up next month, and MoDOT hopes to name a contractor in January. The state allocated a total of nearly $1 billion for environmental studies, bridge repairs and pavement repairs.

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