Wright City

Wright City, R-II district at ‘stalemate’ on Roelker Road upgrades

Wright City going out for bid on Roelker Road repairs

By Jack Underwood, Staff Writer
Posted 2/3/25

The Wright City Board of Aldermen decided to go out for bid on repairs to Roelker Road, but the scope of the work and the role of the Wright City R-II Board of Education remain unclear.

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Wright City

Wright City, R-II district at ‘stalemate’ on Roelker Road upgrades

Wright City going out for bid on Roelker Road repairs

Posted

The Wright City Board of Aldermen decided to go out for bid on repairs to Roelker Road, but the scope of the work and the role of the Wright City R-II Board of Education remain unclear. 

Voters approved a $6.5 million bond issue for road improvements in the April 2024 election and the city has slowly been going through the process of using those funds. Per the bond language, the funds are for street improvements but their priority is repairs and improvements to Roelker Road, where the new Wright City High School opened earlier this month. 

The road has fallen into disrepair and improvements have been the subject of discussion at board meetings for some time, especially with the increased traffic from the new school. 

“There’s already unbearable traffic there when school opens and school closes,” said Alderman Ramiz Hakim. “Our school resource officer has put up a post to help remind students not to sit on the train tracks when there’s traffic happening, and all of those things concerning traffic and safety can be mitigated with an expansion of this road.”

The scope of the repairs on Roelker Road has also come into question as construction prices have increased. Also, the Wright City R-II School Board has indicated they do not intend to provide any funding for the road upgrades, according to Wright City Mayor Michelle Heiliger. 

“They have indicated that they are not interested in participating in that, but we have sent communication back to them,” said Heiliger. “We’re still in the back and forth phase, but at this point, they have indicated they are not interested in participating in the repair or the widening of Roelker Road.”

Hakim took issue with the district’s lack of participation, saying he thought a condition of their use of Roelker Road for the new high school was they would help cover costs to repair and improve the road. 

“Their feedback to us was that, since we did not require a contractual obligation with them, they have absolutely no ownership, and they do not intend to do that,” said Heiliger. 

Wright City R-II School Board President Austin Jones said that the school district was unsure of what, if any agreements were made related to the road but they are “diligently researching that assertion.”

He said the district could not comment any further on the situation at this time. 

Heiliger went on to say the school board had offered the city $20,000, which Hakim said “doesn’t even cover potholes.”

City officials also noted that discussion is now being handled by attorneys for both sides.

Heiliger did emphasize that while she agreed there were issues between the city and the school board she did not want to sit at a “stalemate.” The work on the road still had to be done and she did not think they could delay the project any further. 

Without additional funding, the scope of the work may be decreased, as previous discussions for the road improvements included potentially widening Roelker Road to four lanes in front of the high school or adding a turn lane in front of the school property. 

Now that scope may be limited to repairing the existing damage, along with a two-inch overlay to improve the driving surface. 

“We have two options on this project, we can do from the railroad tracks to the last entrance of the subdivisions past the school, or we can go all the way to the end of Fruit Farm Road,” said Director of Public Works Kyle Roettger. 

He continued saying repairs to the large gravel patches on the road would be a priority before any overlay was completed, but that both would be a part of the work. 

In the end the board decided to go out for bids for repairs and for a complete overlay of the road, saying there was no harm in seeing bids and they could figure out the ongoing issues with payment for the repairs when they receive them. 

“Bids aren’t gonna hurt anything, but when it comes time to do the work, we need to ensure that everyone’s pulled their own weight,” said Hakim. 

The measure to go out for bid on an overlay from the train tracks to Fruit Farm Road was approved unanimously. 

Wright City, Roelker Road

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