Pending highway bill aids Missouri with additional $1 billion

The road to better highways and transportation is full of roadblocks, detours and orange barrels. But if the federal transportation bill is authorized this summer, U.S. Sen. Kit Bond said there will be an additional $1 billion in new highway funds for Missouri.

Bond spoke to a group representing communities, ports, and road projects throughout Southeast Missouri Monday morning at the Cape Girardeau Chamber of Commerce.

Bond said he is leading the Senate effort to reauthorize a transportation bill as chairman of the Senate Transportation Appropriations subcommittee. In the six-year, $284 billion bill that was passed out of committee last week, Missouri stands to reap a total of $4.96 billion, which includes an additional $1 billion in new highway funds.

"It is no secret," Bond said, "that Missouri has some of the worst roads and bridges in the nation. On average up to three deaths occur each day on Missouri roads, and a large portion of these deaths are attributable to unsafe and inadequate infrastructure."

Even with an additional $1 billion on the horizon, it will be a long time before Missouri's road needs are met. Missouri communities have outlined road needs that total $32 billion, Bond said. The Missouri Department of Transportation has whittled those needs down to projects that have been categorized by level of priority. The high priority items, the senator said, total $9 billion. And at the federal level, he said, lawmakers are proposing a 2 percent cut in transportation money.

MoDOT engineer Scott Meyer said that MoDOT officials will meet next week in Jefferson City to decide which federally subsidized projects to send to the state highway commission for priority funding.

Locally several projects on Interstate 55 will be pushed, along with projects in several locations on U.S. 67.

lredeffer@semissourian.com

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