MACON, MO -- MoDOT says federal economic stimulus money will bring over 20,000 jobs to North Central Missouri.

MoDOT officials explained how they will use $788,000,000 statewide in newly allocated transportation money at a public meeting at their regional office in Macon, Mo.

The majority of the money in the North Central District will go to accelerating the Highway 63 alternate route project, and fixing rural roads and bridges.

But not as many roads are getting fixed as many residents would like to think. Officials say that’s because the federal stimulus money isn’t really that much money in the scheme of the Missouri Transportation system's needs.

“Missouri has 31 billion dollars in transportation needs. It’s (the federal stimulus money) not going to address the transportation issues across Missouri. Of course, additional funding is welcome. But there are so many needs across the state that it is not a significant amount relatively speaking,” MoDOT District Engineer Dan Niec said.

Niec says he is excited that the money will allow MoDOT to fix some rural roads in the area and also start the Highway 63 project sooner.

To see a complete list of the specific road projects, click here.