Duane David Pace Memorial Highway

U.S. Route 50, Moniteau County

On Friday, Sept. 10, a new section of U.S. 50 in Moniteau County was formally dedicated in memory of a Missouri Department of Transportation employee who was killed in the line of duty in 2002.

U.S. 50 from Route 87 to Jacket Factory Road has been designated by the Missouri Legislature as the Duane David Pace Memorial Highway. Pace was killed on May 13, 2002 after being struck by a vehicle while flagging traffic during a routine bridge maintenance project just west of Springfield. He was 34.

Pace was a husband and father of three sons. As a member of the MoDOT bridge maintenance crew, Pace worked to repair highway bridges across the state.

"Duane will always be remembered by his MoDOT family as one of our highway heroes," said MoDOT Director of System Management Don Hillis. "His daily efforts made a difference in the lives of thousands of motorists who traveled on the bridges he helped to keep safe. This memorial highway dedication is a tribute to Duane and to the hundreds of men and women like him who regularly work in or near lanes of traffic to make our transportation system safer."

Between 2005 and 2009, 64 people were killed and 4,260 people were injured in Missouri work zones. Since 2000, 15 MoDOT employees have been killed in the line of duty. The top five contributing circumstances for work zone crashes in 2009 were inattention, following too closely, improper lane usage/change, too fast for conditions and failure to yield.

"We encourage every driver to buckle up, pay attention and follow posted signing when traveling through highway work zones," said Hillis. "We want every highway worker and every motorist to return safely home to their families each night."

Portion of U.S. 50 in Moniteau County Named in Honor of MoDOT Employee (News Release, Aug. 27, 2010)

MoDOT's Memorial Highway Sign Program