The Missouri Department of Transportation plans to auction off property located across the state that it no longer needs to help finance road and bridge construction.

MoDOT is looking to unload 34 pieces of property, ranging from a quarter of an acre in size to 200 acres.

"We're hoping for a fair market value for the properties," says Gregory Wood, MoDOT�s Realty to Roads project director.

In total, more than 600 acres will be on the block from April 26-30. All the money raised will go back into road and bridge construction.

This is not the first time MoDOT has sold its unwanted real estate. The department held a similar auction last fall for the first time, raising $675,000.

MoDOT disposed of 16 out of 21 parcels up for sale during the auction.

Buyers are often interested in the highway property for various reasons, whether it's to add to an abutting property they already own or to develop it, Wood says.

One parcel sold for as much as $120,000 during the state's first sales blitz.

"This was an approach on a statewide level that we thought would generate interest from buyers," Wood says, noting the department has an annual process to identify property that is no longer needed to build, improve or maintain the highway system. In fiscal year ending 2008, ending June 30, MoDOT raised $4.4 million by selling 112 parcels, compared to $3.8 million for 110 parces sold during fiscal 2007.

The department has already raised $3.4 million for fiscal year 2009 to date, by selling 228 parcels. This year's total already exceeds where the department was at last year at the same time, Wood said, predicting the department will beat last year's total. To learn more about the properties for sale, visit MoDOT's Realty to Roads Web site at www.modot.mo.gov/realtyforsale/index.htm.