Digital Signs Give Springfield Drivers a Heads-up About Air Quality

(Springfield, MO) -- Have you noticed the large traffic signs blinking in Springfield lately?

They're giving drivers warnings about air quality, and are meant to protect the air you breathe.

Springfield's Department of Environmental Services has partnered with the Missouri Department of Transportation and the Ozarks Clean Air Alliance to reduce the pollutants that are affecting air quality and the health of residents living in the Ozarks.

"It's one of those things that you can look and see and the day looks clear," says Barbara Lucks, Interim Sustainability Officer for the City of Springfield's Department of Environmental Services.

It's Springfield's newest challenge.

"We're beginning to inch toward that spot where we're going to see air quality problems in Springfield," says Lucks.

Springfield is taking a proactive approach to reduce air pollution that's most commonly caused by gas exhaust from cars and trucks. MoDOT has set up air and transportation advisories near heavy traffic areas in an effort to help Springfield's air quality.

"We don't want to reach a point where we become non-attainment, which can have negative economic impacts, health impacts and as a transportation agency, it could dictate and influence how we plan for major expansion projects," says Andrew Seiler, Senior Transportation Planner for MoDOT Springfield.

According to Airnow.gov, Southwest Missouri is currently at a moderate level, meaning it's still meeting the United States Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) standards of air quality, but is still a health concern.

"For anyone with a compromised immune system or perhaps someone who is elderly or infants certainly someone with respiratory or pulmonary problems, it can be problematic," says Lucks.

As the EPA continues to find more evidence linking air quality and certain health problems, the standard of air quality will get tighter and the need for protection will be more important.

"When you see one of the days coming up that we think we may be experiencing a high level of ozone, then we're alerting people if there's any way they can drive less that day would help us," says Lucks.

Monitoring stations are located across the Ozarks to measure air quality. The stations forecast levels daily.

When air quality advisories are posted, there are steps you can take to help protect Southwest Missouri:
-Carpool with coworkers
-Use the city's bus system more often
-Fuel your car in the evenings when the weather is cooler because the hot weather contributes to pollutants
-When running errands, cut down on driving by combining trips instead of taking several a day