Missouri Transportation Alliance outlines goals for improved roads, ports

Missouri's transportation system needs $750 million to $800 million more each year to make needed improvements, a group of Cape Girardeau area business and political leaders was told Friday.

During an hourlong discussion at the Show Me Center, Jewell Patek of the Missouri Transportation Alliance outlined the goals for improved roads, airports and river ports developed by the alliance over the past year. Patek, the education coordinator for the alliance, said the next step is to begin building support for some way to finance the plan.

"There has been significant growth in the system and significant growth in the need," Patek said. "We are in a new decade, and transportation issues are again at the forefront."

Road construction and repairs by the Missouri Department of Transportation costs Missouri about $450 million annually, but that is not enough, Patek said. Under the proposal being developed by the alliance, an additional $200 million would be transferred from new projects to maintenance.

But everything being discussed is subject to change, he said. "This wasn't designed to be an end, but a start, for discussion."

Major projects for Southeast Missouri outlined in the plan include $305 million for improvements to the Highway 34 corridor between Piedmont, Mo., and Highway 72 and improvements on U.S. 412 from Highway 25 to the Arkansas line. Another $124 million would be allocated to improvements to Interstate 55 from Fruitland to south of Scott City and a new Mississippi River bridge connecting Perry County, Mo., to Chester, Ill.

Missouri transportation leaders have been warning that the state faces a shortfall of money for improving roads and other transportation needs. They expect federal spending on transportation, which depends on fuel taxes, will be cut as motorists turn to more efficient cars and drive less because of high fuel prices.

Missouri is already experiencing that problem, with a 5 percent reduction in gasoline use in 2009 compared to 2007. The state funds its road program using federal funds, the 17 cent-per-gallon tax on gasoline and diesel fuel and sales taxes and registration fees on motor vehicles. The fuel tax won't support the needs anymore, Patek said.

"It is a dinosaur," he said. "As a primary means of funding, it has become less and less feasible to use it."

Various methods could be used to generate money, Patek said, mentioning sales tax and toll roads as two possibilities.

The 20 people in attendance included Mark Shelton, district engineer for MoDOT, Mayor Jay Knudtson and Larry Payne, a member of the Cape Girardeau County Road and Bridge Advisory Board.

Payne questioned how the money would be distributed, reflecting a worry that rural parts of the state don't get a fair share.

MoDOT currently splits the money about 50 percent for rural needs and 50 percent for urban needs, Patek said. About 55 percent of the fuel tax is paid by rural Missourians, while urban dwellers pay about 55 percent of the sales taxes collected on motor vehicles, he said.

rkeller@semissourian.com

388-3642

Pertinent address:

Show Me Center, Cape Girardeau, MO