HANNIBAL - Using a global positioning system (GPS), MoDOT and the Marion County Highway Department partnered to update maps and mileage of roads in the county, Palmyra, and other small communities in the area. "These new maps are color coded and very accurate making them easier to read," said Adam Jones with the county. MoDOT provided the GPS and computer, and Marion County provided the employees to run the equipment and collect the data.

"This service benefits the County because we save money by not having to contract the service to someone else and we can receive accurate funding for the mileage from the County Aid Trust Fund (CART)," Jones explained. This benefits MoDOT when it comes to bridge inspections and any other projects that pertain to road maintenance.

Jones and another Marion County Highway Department employee, Dana Smith, drove the roads with a voice-activated laptop GPS that read from 13 satellites. "The process was fairly simple, even though we had some issues obtaining the satellite signal on roads that had a lot of trees hanging over the roads," Jones said. He and Smith used voice commands so the GPS knew when to start and stop collecting data and to let it know where there were objects obstructing the path such as a car. "Each day, we would bring the equipment back for another county employee, Stacy Richards, to put the data into the computer for interpretation," Jones said. To accurately map 450 to 475 miles, the process took only three weeks to complete.

The Marion County Highway Department employees enjoyed getting to expand their knowledge of the local roads. Jones said, "The technology made the process fairly easy after a few technical issues were worked out."

The Marion County maps show all of the road numbers, stream locations, and allow for future mapping details such as bridge and culvert locations. "They are accurate, updated and very easy to read," Jones added. Anyone interested in purchasing a map of Marion County can call 573-769-4660.