Missouri Transportation Alliance group to discuss priorities and funding at Friday meeting in Cape

A statewide coalition of transportation interests will hold a meeting Friday in Cape Girardeau to discuss regional and state priorities and how Missourians might be persuaded to pay for them.

The Missouri Transportation Alliance will provide ideas at the meeting, which begins at 2 p.m. in the Show Me Center, but no firm plan for paying for the program will be presented, said Jewell Patek, education coordinator for the alliance.

One point Patek plans to make is that gasoline and diesel taxes, the traditional method of paying for roads and bridges in Missouri, will not support major improvements in the future. The other major sources of money for transportation -- license fees and sales taxes on motor vehicles along with federal highway funds -- won't be enough, either, Patek said.

The state maintains 5,600 miles of primary highways and 28,000 miles of secondary roads.

In 2009, Missourians consumed just more than 4 billion gallons of gasoline and diesel, according to the Missouri Department of Revenue. That is down about 1 percent from 2008 and almost 5 percent less than in 2007. Both gasoline and diesel are taxed at 17 cents a gallon by the state.

"We want to consider all the options, and that is part of the discussion we have had and will have," Patek said.

The alliance held a series of meetings around the state last year to identify priorities for big transportation projects. In addition to discussing possible funding, the meeting Friday will present the priorities identified as important for Southeast Missouri.

John Mehner, CEO of the Cape Girardeau Area Chamber of Commerce and District 10 co-chairman of the alliance, said he was unable to attend a December alliance meeting in Jefferson City, Mo., so he is eager to see what will be presented.

"Does it need to be big enough to include enough people to get the votes to get it done? That is something that has been tried before and was unsuccessful," Mehner said. "I don't know if, in today's climate, if people are looking for new funding sources."

The last successful attempt to add money to the state's transportation funds took place in 2004. Voters approved Amendment 3, which allowed the Missouri Department of Transportation to issue $1.7 billion in bonds that will be repaid from the sales tax on motor vehicle purchases. An attempt to increase the fuel tax failed in 2002.

The meetings are important because the alliance wants to know if it has set proper priorities and whether there is a way to meet the funding requirements, Patek said. "To do a sizable transportation plan for Missouri, you are going to need additional revenue, but we haven't endorsed any one plan."

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, MO