MoDOT faces funding bottleneck

Scott City's much anticipated interchange to Interstate 55 may end up on the back burner indefinitely.

"That would not be good for Scott City. It would be detrimental to our growth," said Tim Porch, Scott City's mayor.

But that's the indication after Missouri's Department of Transportation announced a huge drop in funding starting in 2010.

Projects such Jackson's East Main Street interchange work, which includes a link to Bainbridge Road and County Road 618, and Cape Girardeau's LaSalle Avenue construction are funded. Money has already been assigned for engineering to connect Scott City's Route K to Route AB.

Between July 1 and June 30, 2008, MoDOT will spend $1.23 billion on roads and bridges. But MoDOT only has $569 million for 2010.

Barry Horst, a MoDOT design engineer assigned to District 10, which includes Southeast Missouri, says much of that money will likely be used to maintain recently improved state roads.

The crunch won't stop engineers from planning projects, Horst said. Construction and materials costs are updated each year until a project gets state funding. He said he did not anticipate layoffs as a result of MoDOT's budget squeeze, though some job openings might go unfilled.

He said the state would work closely with regional and local planners to reprioritize projects.

More than 770 highway and bridge projects will need state funding from 2008 to 2012.

Consultant Chris Koehler, president and CEO of Koehler Engineering and Land Surveying in Cape Girardeau, said his company is working on seven road projects, three for Jackson and four in Cape Girardeau.

He said it's difficult to predict the impact funding cuts will have on his business. "We'll feel it and it will hurt, for sure. How much will be difficult to say," he said.

"It's one of those things in a consulting market; you have to adapt to an ever-changing business market which may impact our work," he said. "We also do work for municipal government that has its own source of revenues and we work for private developers. We're fairly diverse."

MoDOT director Pete Rahn blames the money squeeze on a triple whammy of stagnant state fuel taxes, lagging federal revenue and increasing construction costs.

Bonds issued to fund current construction projects will have to be paid starting July 1, 2009. At the same time, federal money will dry up. A U.S. General Accounting Office report notes the Highway Trust Fund, which collects 18.4 cents paid for every gallon of gasoline, will have a negative balance by 2011. That report cites the rising cost of gas, causing people to drive less, and more efficient cars and trucks using less fuel as reasons the fund is eroding. It suggests states turn toward alternative funding, such as toll roads.

Chauncy Buchheit, executive director of the Southeast Missouri Regional Planning and Economic Development Commission, said bonds issued starting in 2001 to jump-start roadwork are coming due. That bill will be paid from the general transportation revenue.

By 2010, MoDOT will have issued approximately $3 billion of bonds. The debt won't be paid back until 2026.

See transportation funding comparison by state

For a complete list of projects call MoDOT's customer service center at (888) 275-6636 or visit www.modot.org.

pmcnichol@semissourian.com

(573) 335-6611, extension 127

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State engineers will make plans for the following projects, but work will be delayed if MoDot funding drops by more than 50 percent starting July 1, 2009:

• Widening and stabilized shoulders on MO Rte. 25 from Rte. 61 in Jackson to Rte. 74 Dutchtown.
• Scoping for purpose and need statement of I-55 to relieve congestion and to improve connectivity along I-55 Corridor from Fruitland to south of Scott City.
• Improvements to Rte 61 from the I-55 interchange at Fruitland to Rte. 25 / 61 / 34 intersection.
• Interchange improvements at I-55 south of Scott City.