T he road to frustration. In Missouri, where highways are among the worst in the nation, drivers are paying with their lives. Journalists at The Kansas City Star turned the spotlight on a sovereign highway department with a troubling history of waste and mismanagement. Nearly half of U.S. roads are rated good or very good. In Missouri, that number drops to 15 percent. Driving on that state’s under-funded, poorly maintained highways is a tooth-rattling, bone- jarring experience. And motorists are paying the price with costly repair bills and an alarming number of accident-related fatalities. In a detailed, scientific study, Kansas City Star journalists examined more than 3,800 miles of highways across three states and mapped Missouri’s worst stretches. They also exposed the state’s Department of Transportation (MoDOT) as a bloated bureaucracy that operates with almost no accountability or oversight. The Star’s two-part series, “State of Disrepair,” provided readers with detailed analysis and reporting that identified the problems and potential solutions. As a result of The Star’s investigation, Missouri’s state auditor called for sweeping changes at MoDOT. And residents of Kansas City learned how a Knight Ridder newspaper always goes the extra mile for its readers. The Philadelphia Inquirer The (Columbia, S.C.) State Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune The Miami Herald Lexington (Ky.) Herald-Leader (Wilkes-Barre, Pa.) Times Leader San Jose Mercury News The Wichita (Kan.) Eagle The (Fort Wayne, Ind.) News-Sentinel The Kansas City Star el Nuevo Herald (Miami) The (San Luis Obispo, Calif.) Tribune Fort Worth Star-Telegram The (Macon) Telegraph The Monterey County (Calif.) Herald Diario La Estrella (Dallas/Ft. Worth) The (Boise) Idaho Statesman The (Olympia, Wash.) Olympian The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer Belleville (Ill.) News-Democrat Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald St. Paul (Minn.) Pioneer Press The (Myrtle Beach, S.C.) Sun News (State College, Pa.) Centre Daily Times Contra Costa Times (Biloxi) Sun Herald The Bellingham (Wash.) Herald Akron (Ohio) Beacon Journal Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer Aberdeen (S.D.) American News Philadelphia Daily News The (Bradenton) Herald The Olathe (Kan.) News Information for Life We’re local, coast to coast, in newspapers and on the Real Cities Network, www.realcities.com. www.kri.com 10928-18.